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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. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. mate — a partner
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. snap — to click
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. cold — not warm
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. cold — an illness
  12. capital — a city
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. mate — a friend
  15. chair — a leader
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. mate — to breed
  19. dip — to sink
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. capital — money
  24. arm — part of the body

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