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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 116 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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. tear — from crying
  3. chair — a leader
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. rash — a series
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. tear — from crying
  9. hand — in cards
  10. bat — the animal
  11. rush — hurry
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. hand — help
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. kick — in football
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. tear — to rip
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. rash — hasty
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. rush — a thrill

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