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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. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. bat — the animal
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. cold — an illness
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. kid — to tease
  8. press — to push
  9. firm — steady
  10. press — a publisher
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. kid — child
  13. drill — army training
  14. drill — a practice
  15. press — newspapers
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. chair — a leader
  19. drill — the tool
  20. rush — hurry
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. cold — not warm
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. firm — a company

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