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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 put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. mate — a partner
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. club — for golf
  5. kid — to tease
  6. club — for dancing
  7. chair — a leader
  8. mate — to breed
  9. cold — an illness
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. ruler — a monarch
  14. club — a group
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bulb — for light
  19. wind — moving air
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. wind — moving air
  22. kid — child
  23. mate — a friend
  24. bulb — for light

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