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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 120 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. The water is too ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cold — an illness
  4. kid — child
  5. bear — the animal
  6. spell — a short time
  7. chair — a leader
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. rush — hurry
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. race — a contest
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. spell — magic
  17. bear — the animal
  18. safe — a strongbox
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. kid — to tease
  21. race — humankind
  22. spell — letters
  23. race — the arms race
  24. rush — to hurry

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