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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. squash — to crush
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. craft — a skill
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. kid — to tease
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. chair — a leader
  13. craft — boats
  14. object — to protest
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. stand — to bear
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. squash — the sport
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. object — a thing
  21. object — an aim
  22. wound — an injury
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. kid — child

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