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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. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. degree — an amount
  4. capital — money
  5. chair — a leader
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. rule — government
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. rule — a law
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. degree — temperature
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. capital — a city
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. degree — from a university
  18. chair — a professorship

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