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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. bass — the fish
  3. rash — hasty
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. net — for catching
  6. fork — in a road
  7. fall — to drop
  8. current — of water
  9. net — in sport
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. current — happening now
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. kid — child
  15. net — after costs
  16. fall — to drop
  17. chair — a leader
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. rash — a series
  21. bass — low music
  22. current — electric
  23. fall — the season
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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