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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. snap — to click
  3. branch — a division
  4. root — of a word
  5. mine — for digging
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. rule — a law
  8. root — the cause
  9. board — a committee
  10. capital — money
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. rule — government
  14. capital — a city
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. board — to get on
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. root — of a plant

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