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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 116 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 had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. tube — a container
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. rash — a series
  5. tube — the underground
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. kid — to tease
  9. pop — soda
  10. stand — to bear
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. cold — not warm
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. pop — music
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. chair — a leader
  17. rash — hasty
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. pop — to visit
  20. cold — an illness
  21. sharp — clever
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. stand — on your feet

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