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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 put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. object — a thing
  5. ground — the earth
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. object — an aim
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. ground — a position
  11. object — to protest
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. ground — crushed
  15. field — for sport
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. capital — money
  18. chair — a leader
  19. bat — the animal
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. field — a subject
  22. capital — a city
  23. field — farmland
  24. trunk — of a car

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