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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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. chair — a leader
  7. fall — to drop
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. kid — child
  10. press — to push
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. face — part of the head
  13. rule — government
  14. rule — a law
  15. face — to point toward
  16. kid — to tease
  17. race — a contest
  18. fall — to drop
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. face — to confront
  21. race — the arms race
  22. press — newspapers
  23. press — a publisher
  24. fall — the season

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