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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 116 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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. staff — employees
  3. capital — a city
  4. root — of a word
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. staff — a stick
  8. field — for sport
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. staff — employees
  12. root — of a plant
  13. rash — hasty
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. field — a subject
  16. rash — a series
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. chair — a leader
  21. capital — money
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. field — farmland
  24. root — the cause

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