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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 120 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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. cap — a hat
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. cap — of ice
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. march — the month
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. march — music
  13. row — a line
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. cap — a lid
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. capital — a city
  20. squash — the sport
  21. capital — money
  22. squash — to crush
  23. row — to paddle
  24. chair — a leader

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