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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. cold — not warm
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. chair — a leader
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. kick — in football
  13. cold — an illness
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. ruler — a monarch
  17. wind — moving air
  18. current — of water
  19. snap — to click
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. squash — the sport
  22. current — electric
  23. current — happening now
  24. wind — moving air

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