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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. capital — money
  4. squash — to crush
  5. present — there
  6. chair — a leader
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. degree — an amount
  13. capital — a city
  14. degree — temperature
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. snap — to click
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. degree — from a university
  19. squash — the sport
  20. present — a gift
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. present — the time now
  23. bass — low music
  24. bass — the fish

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