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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. land — a country
  3. spring — of water
  4. capital — a city
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. rule — government
  7. spring — a coil
  8. rule — a law
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. pitch — completely
  11. capital — money
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. land — to come down
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. land — ground
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. game — a match
  22. game — wild animals
  23. chair — a leader
  24. spring — the season

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