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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. roll — a list
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. content — the amount
  8. roll — a cake
  9. chair — a leader
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. content — happy
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. capital — a city
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. capital — money
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. row — to paddle
  20. swing — in golf
  21. row — a line
  22. swing — to play on
  23. swing — music
  24. stand — to bear

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