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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. rash — hasty
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. deal — to handle
  13. cell — in biology
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. chair — a leader
  16. band — a ring
  17. kid — to tease
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. rash — a series
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. cell — a phone
  24. band — a music group

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