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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. ground — a position
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. file — a line of people
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. capital — money
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. ground — crushed
  12. track — a path
  13. track — a song
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. file — a tool
  16. kick — in football
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. chair — a leader
  19. file — a document
  20. capital — a city
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. ruler — a monarch
  23. ground — the earth
  24. track — to keep track

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