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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 120 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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. cue — a hint
  3. rush — hurry
  4. squash — to crush
  5. game — a match
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. band — a music group
  8. squash — the sport
  9. wind — moving air
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. chair — a leader
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. cue — a signal
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. cue — for pool
  19. game — wild animals
  20. wind — moving air
  21. band — a ring
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. rush — to hurry

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