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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. rash — hasty
  3. kid — to tease
  4. cold — an illness
  5. pop — to visit
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. pop — soda
  8. charge — a price
  9. rash — a series
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. sharp — clever
  12. charge — electricity
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. kid — child
  16. charge — in control
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. chair — a leader
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. chip — for betting
  21. chip — to eat
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. pop — music

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