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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: rush · cold · mark · press · chair · bat · lash · kid

  1. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. cold — an illness
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. press — newspapers
  7. mark — a trace
  8. press — to push
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. kid — to tease
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. press — a publisher
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. kid — child
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. chair — a leader
  18. rush — hurry
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. cold — not warm
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. bat — the animal

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