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

Word bank: cold · suit · leaves · kid · saw · wind · chair · rash

  1. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. When will it ________________ you to start?
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. cold — not warm
  3. wind — moving air
  4. saw — the tool
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. rash — hasty
  7. cold — an illness
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. suit — to fit
  10. saw — the tool
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. suit — in cards
  13. kid — to tease
  14. suit — clothes
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. kid — child
  19. wind — moving air
  20. chair — a leader
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. rash — a series
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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