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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 room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. saw — the tool
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. pound — a weight
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. cold — an illness
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. capital — money
  11. cold — not warm
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. chair — a leader
  17. mine — for digging
  18. saw — the tool
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. capital — a city
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. chair — to sit 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