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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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468
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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. kid — child
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. kid — to tease
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. root — of a plant
  10. toast — bread
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. root — the cause
  13. cold — an illness
  14. chair — a leader
  15. toast — a drink to someone
  16. root — of a word
  17. current — electric
  18. hand — help
  19. current — of water
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. hand — in cards
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cold — not warm
  24. current — happening now

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