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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. club — for golf
  3. chair — a leader
  4. face — part of the head
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. capital — money
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. scale — size or range
  9. scale — in music
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. land — a country
  12. face — to confront
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. club — a group
  16. land — ground
  17. face — to point toward
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. club — for dancing
  20. capital — a city
  21. kid — child
  22. kid — to tease
  23. pitch — completely
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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