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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. chair — a leader
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. field — farmland
  9. swing — to play on
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. dip — to sink
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. field — for sport
  15. field — a subject
  16. swing — music
  17. capital — money
  18. swing — in golf

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