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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. chip — for betting
  5. roll — a cake
  6. bat — the animal
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. date — the fruit
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. chip — to eat
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. roll — a list
  17. capital — a city
  18. capital — money

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