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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. branch — a division
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. spell — a short time
  5. spell — letters
  6. rule — a law
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. spell — magic
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. wind — moving air
  15. rule — government
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. chair — a leader
  18. squash — the sport
  19. wind — moving air
  20. kid — to tease
  21. squash — to crush
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. rush — hurry
  24. rush — a thrill

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