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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. cap — a lid
  3. lie — to recline
  4. court — of law
  5. kid — to tease
  6. court — of a king
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. kid — child
  9. rash — hasty
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. cap — of ice
  13. cold — an illness
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. cap — a hat
  16. rash — a series
  17. cold — not warm
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. court — for sport
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. chair — a leader

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com