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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. cold — not warm
  3. net — after costs
  4. fall — the season
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. rock — music
  7. rock — a stone
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. fall — to drop
  11. saw — the tool
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. saw — the tool
  14. fall — to drop
  15. kid — to tease
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — an illness
  18. rush — hurry
  19. chair — a leader
  20. net — in sport
  21. kid — child
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. net — for catching

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