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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. firm — steady
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. cold — an illness
  5. jam — in traffic
  6. degree — temperature
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. chair — a leader
  13. jam — to spread on bread
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. degree — an amount
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. firm — a company
  18. date — the fruit
  19. degree — from a university
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. kid — to tease
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. firm — decided

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