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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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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. chair — a leader
  4. chest — a box
  5. net — for catching
  6. chest — of your body
  7. craft — a skill
  8. craft — boats
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. kid — child
  11. cold — not warm
  12. kid — to tease
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. net — after costs
  15. cold — an illness
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. chest — of your body
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. dip — to sink

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