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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. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. chair — a leader
  3. rest — a break
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. cold — an illness
  7. rest — what's left
  8. tear — from crying
  9. tear — from crying
  10. cold — not warm
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. kid — child
  14. rest — what's left
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. kid — to tease
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. stem — to come from
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. bound — obliged
  22. bound — certain
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. tear — to rip

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