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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.

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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. chair — a leader
  3. degree — an amount
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. bulb — for light
  6. degree — temperature
  7. bulb — for light
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. degree — from a university
  10. file — a line of people
  11. wind — moving air
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. file — a tool
  15. bore — to drill
  16. bore — to tire
  17. kid — to tease
  18. file — a document
  19. wind — moving air
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. bulb — of a plant

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