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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. mate — to breed
  3. swing — in golf
  4. roll — a cake
  5. capital — money
  6. chair — a leader
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. last — to go on
  9. last — finally
  10. bound — tied together
  11. roll — a list
  12. capital — a city
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. swing — music
  15. bound — obliged
  16. rule — government
  17. mate — a friend
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. rule — a law
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. last — final
  22. bound — certain
  23. mate — a partner
  24. swing — to play on

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