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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. My mare is ________________ in color.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. squash — the sport
  3. capital — a city
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. snap — to click
  7. toast — the most admired
  8. squash — to crush
  9. tear — to rip
  10. toast — bread
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. capital — money
  14. lean — to bend
  15. tear — from crying
  16. chair — a leader
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. bay — a horse colour
  22. tear — from crying
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. lean — thin

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