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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 124 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 don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. rash — a series
  4. hand — in cards
  5. kid — to tease
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. bear — the animal
  8. field — a subject
  9. rule — a law
  10. rash — hasty
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. kid — child
  13. field — farmland
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. rule — government
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. bear — the animal
  20. hand — help
  21. field — for sport
  22. chair — a leader
  23. rock — music
  24. rock — a stone

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