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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 · kid · staff · ground · chair · racket · key · cold

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. staff — a stick
  3. rash — hasty
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. key — the most important part
  6. staff — employees
  7. kid — child
  8. kid — to tease
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. chair — a leader
  13. rash — a series
  14. staff — employees
  15. cold — an illness
  16. key — in music
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. ground — the earth
  22. ground — a position
  23. key — for a lock
  24. cold — not warm

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