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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. kid — child
  3. file — a document
  4. object — to protest
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. rash — a series
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. dip — to sink
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. court — for sport
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. object — a thing
  17. kid — to tease
  18. chair — a leader
  19. file — a line of people
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. rash — hasty
  22. object — an aim
  23. court — of a king
  24. file — a tool

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