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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. ground — a position
  6. spring — the season
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. ground — crushed
  9. wind — moving air
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. ground — the earth
  13. hand — in cards
  14. capital — money
  15. wind — moving air
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. chair — a leader
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. capital — a city
  22. spring — a coil
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. spring — of water

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