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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. roll — a list
  4. bear — the animal
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. bear — the animal
  7. race — a contest
  8. kid — child
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. sharp — clever
  11. cold — an illness
  12. race — the arms race
  13. root — of a plant
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. cold — not warm
  18. race — humankind
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. root — the cause
  21. root — of a word
  22. roll — a cake
  23. kid — to tease
  24. bear — to put up with

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