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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. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. tear — from crying
  3. mug — a cup
  4. roll — a cake
  5. object — an aim
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. staff — employees
  8. tear — from crying
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. roll — a list
  11. cold — an illness
  12. object — to protest
  13. chair — a leader
  14. mug — a face
  15. tear — to rip
  16. object — a thing
  17. kid — to tease
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. cold — not warm
  20. staff — a stick
  21. staff — employees
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. kid — child
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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