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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. chair — a leader
  3. capital — a city
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. prune — to trim
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. prune — to trim
  14. mine — for digging
  15. capital — money
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. saw — the tool
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. saw — the tool
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. hide — to keep secret

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