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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. hand — in cards
  4. capital — money
  5. wound — an injury
  6. chair — a leader
  7. hand — help
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. wound — an injury
  17. capital — a city
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. foot — a measure
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. snap — to click

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