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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: mouse · chair · cold · jam · fan · wake · kid · tear

  1. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  2. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. jam — a tight spot
  2. jam — to spread on bread
  3. tear — to rip
  4. chair — a leader
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. jam — in traffic
  9. cold — not warm
  10. kid — to tease
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. kid — child
  14. tear — from crying
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. wake — a trail
  18. cold — an illness
  19. tear — from crying
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. mouse — for a computer

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