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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. club — for dancing
  3. chair — a leader
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. mine — for digging
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. vault — a safe
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. club — a group
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. cell — a phone
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. capital — money
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bat — the animal
  22. club — for golf
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. cell — in biology

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