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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 116 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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. rock — music
  3. rock — a stone
  4. wound — an injury
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. capital — money
  8. ground — a position
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. capital — a city
  11. fine — all right
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. wound — an injury
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. ground — crushed
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. mine — for digging
  18. chair — a leader
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. ground — the earth
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. hide — to keep secret

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