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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. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. staff — a stick
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. kid — child
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. spell — magic
  7. cold — an illness
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. lean — to bend
  10. staff — employees
  11. rash — hasty
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. cold — not warm
  14. lean — thin
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. staff — employees
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. mark — a trace
  19. rash — a series
  20. pound — a weight
  21. spell — letters
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. kid — to tease
  24. spell — a short time

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