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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 120 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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. chair — a leader
  4. last — finally
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. kid — to tease
  7. race — the arms race
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. last — final
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. last — to go on
  14. wind — moving air
  15. scale — in music
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. wind — moving air
  18. race — a contest
  19. race — humankind
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. kid — child
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. kick — in football

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