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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. race — the arms race
  4. fall — to drop
  5. rash — hasty
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. fall — the season
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. swing — in golf
  11. fall — to drop
  12. kid — to tease
  13. race — a contest
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. rash — a series
  16. chair — a leader
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. swing — music
  20. swing — to play on
  21. race — humankind
  22. deal — to handle
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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