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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. chair — a leader
  3. wound — an injury
  4. capital — money
  5. kid — to tease
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. mine — for digging
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. capital — a city
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. perch — the fish
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. scale — size or range
  20. kid — child
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. wound — an injury
  23. ball — a great time
  24. ball — a dance

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