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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. wind — moving air
  3. chair — a leader
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. wind — moving air
  9. vault — a safe
  10. squash — to crush
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. kid — child
  13. foot — a measure
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. cold — an illness
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. mark — a trace
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. cold — not warm
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. squash — the sport
  24. mark — a grade

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