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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. mate — a partner
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. kick — in football
  5. chair — a leader
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. file — a document
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. capital — money
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. file — a tool
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. rule — a law
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. capital — a city
  16. mate — a friend
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. rule — government
  19. file — a line of people
  20. mate — to breed
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. coach — a trainer

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