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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. cold — not warm
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. club — for golf
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. cold — an illness
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. club — for dancing
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. game — a match
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. rash — hasty
  16. club — a group
  17. game — wild animals
  18. lean — to bend
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. lean — thin
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. rash — a series

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