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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. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  19. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. chair — a leader
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. rest — what's left
  6. date — the fruit
  7. cold — an illness
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. rest — what's left
  11. press — newspapers
  12. track — to keep track
  13. capital — a city
  14. rest — a break
  15. track — a song
  16. cold — not warm
  17. press — a publisher
  18. jam — a tight spot
  19. jam — in traffic
  20. press — to push
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. capital — money
  23. jam — to spread on bread
  24. track — a path

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