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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 I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. chip — to eat
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. file — a line of people
  10. rule — government
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. chip — for betting
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. capital — a city
  16. chair — a leader
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. file — a document
  19. stem — to come from
  20. capital — money
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. file — a tool
  23. rule — a law
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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