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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. kid — to tease
  3. object — to protest
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. rash — hasty
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. bat — the animal
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. object — an aim
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. cold — not warm
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. chair — a leader
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. rash — a series
  19. rule — government
  20. cold — an illness
  21. kid — child
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. object — a thing
  24. chair — to sit on

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