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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 116 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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. When will it ________________ you to start?
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  13. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. file — a tool
  3. suit — to fit
  4. chair — a leader
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. bat — the animal
  7. capital — a city
  8. last — finally
  9. file — a document
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. suit — in cards
  13. suit — clothes
  14. file — a line of people
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. capital — money
  17. last — final
  18. last — to go on

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