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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: ruler · chair · press · rock · rash · game · bat · kid

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. rash — hasty
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. game — wild animals
  7. press — newspapers
  8. kid — child
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. game — a match
  11. press — a publisher
  12. bat — the animal
  13. chair — a leader
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. ruler — a monarch
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. press — to push
  19. rock — a stone
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. rock — music
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. rash — a series

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