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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 120 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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. chair — a leader
  3. clip — to cut
  4. chest — of your body
  5. clip — for paper
  6. mark — a trace
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. court — of law
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chest — a box
  11. capital — money
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. mark — a grade
  14. present — the time now
  15. present — there
  16. court — for sport
  17. clip — a video
  18. court — of a king
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. present — a gift
  21. safe — a strongbox
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. chair — to sit 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