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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. bat — the animal
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. kid — child
  5. court — for sport
  6. capital — money
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. kid — to tease
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. court — of law
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. capital — a city
  16. court — of a king
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. plane — a tool
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. scale — in music
  24. chair — a leader

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