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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. rash — a series
  3. march — music
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. kid — child
  6. present — a gift
  7. march — the month
  8. root — of a plant
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. tear — from crying
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. kid — to tease
  13. root — of a word
  14. tear — to rip
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. root — the cause
  17. present — the time now
  18. present — there
  19. tear — from crying
  20. chair — a leader
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. march — the month
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. rash — hasty

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