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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: bat · mine · rush · chair · cap · rule · kid · fall

  1. That must've been a ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. fall — to drop
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. kid — to tease
  10. rule — a law
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. cap — of ice
  13. cap — a hat
  14. bat — the animal
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. kid — child
  17. rule — government
  18. fall — the season
  19. chair — a leader
  20. mine — for digging
  21. cap — a lid
  22. rush — hurry
  23. fall — to drop
  24. chair — to sit on

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