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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: rash · cold · staff · chair · arm · kid · patient · pop

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. pop — to visit
  4. chair — a leader
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. staff — employees
  11. kid — child
  12. rash — a series
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. cold — not warm
  16. staff — a stick
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. staff — employees
  19. cold — an illness
  20. rash — hasty
  21. pop — music
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. pop — soda

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