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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. land — to come down
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. capital — money
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. land — ground
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. bat — the animal
  13. race — a contest
  14. track — a song
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. land — a country
  17. race — humankind
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. track — to keep track
  21. race — the arms race
  22. capital — a city
  23. chair — a leader
  24. track — a path

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