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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 120 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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. court — of law
  4. lean — to bend
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. mark — a grade
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. wind — moving air
  10. pass — a permit
  11. chair — a leader
  12. wind — moving air
  13. lean — thin
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. court — for sport
  18. capital — a city
  19. mark — a trace
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. court — of a king
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. capital — money
  24. mark — to pay attention

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