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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. land — a country
  5. ball — a dance
  6. race — humankind
  7. rush — hurry
  8. pitch — completely
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. race — the arms race
  11. race — a contest
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. shower — to wash
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. chair — a leader
  17. ball — a great time
  18. kid — child
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. land — ground
  21. kid — to tease
  22. shower — rain
  23. land — to come down
  24. pitch — a sports field

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