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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. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. staff — employees
  4. capital — a city
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. scale — in music
  7. cold — not warm
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. spring — of water
  10. cold — an illness
  11. bear — the animal
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. spring — the season
  14. toast — a drink to someone
  15. spring — a coil
  16. staff — a stick
  17. chair — a leader
  18. toast — bread
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. staff — employees
  21. scale — size or range
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. bear — the animal
  24. capital — money

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