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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. ground — a position
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. chair — a leader
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. object — to protest
  7. capital — a city
  8. ground — the earth
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. capital — money
  13. ground — crushed
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. row — to paddle
  16. file — a tool
  17. key — in music
  18. file — a document
  19. object — an aim
  20. key — for a lock
  21. key — the most important part
  22. object — a thing
  23. row — a line
  24. file — a line of people

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