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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: cold · row · wind · cap · rash · dip · net · chair

  1. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. wind — moving air
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. cap — a lid
  5. wind — moving air
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. net — after costs
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — an illness
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. chair — a leader
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. net — for catching
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. row — to paddle
  17. rash — a series
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. rash — hasty
  20. net — in sport
  21. row — a line
  22. dip — to sink
  23. cap — a hat
  24. cap — of ice

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