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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. chair — a leader
  4. cold — an illness
  5. kid — to tease
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cold — not warm
  8. chip — to eat
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. track — to keep track
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. kid — child
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. spell — letters
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. spell — a short time
  21. chip — for betting
  22. track — a song
  23. spell — magic
  24. leaves — lets stay

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