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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. The tickets are free of ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. cold — not warm
  3. land — to come down
  4. mark — a trace
  5. deal — to handle
  6. charge — in control
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. kid — to tease
  9. kid — child
  10. charge — electricity
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. file — a tool
  13. cold — an illness
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. charge — a price
  16. land — ground
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. file — a document
  19. land — a country
  20. mark — a grade
  21. rash — hasty
  22. rash — a series
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. file — a line of people

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