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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. squash — to crush
  4. season — in sport
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. kid — to tease
  11. present — the time now
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. season — of the year
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. kid — child
  16. chair — a leader
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. wind — moving air
  19. present — a gift
  20. cold — an illness
  21. squash — the sport
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. present — there
  24. chair — a professorship

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