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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 124 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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. pit — in a race
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. file — a tool
  6. capital — a city
  7. current — happening now
  8. current — of water
  9. jam — in traffic
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. cold — not warm
  12. capital — money
  13. last — to go on
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. last — final
  16. file — a line of people
  17. current — electric
  18. pit — a hole
  19. last — finally
  20. file — a document
  21. chair — a leader
  22. cold — an illness
  23. jam — to spread on bread
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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