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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. capital — a city
  6. row — to paddle
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. mate — to breed
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. last — finally
  11. mate — a friend
  12. rule — a law
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. capital — money
  15. row — a line
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. last — to go on
  19. rule — government
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. last — final
  22. chair — a leader
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. racket — for tennis

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