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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. row — a line
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. capital — a city
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. rash — hasty
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. craft — a skill
  17. stem — to come from
  18. rash — a series
  19. chair — a leader
  20. capital — money
  21. pitch — completely
  22. row — to paddle
  23. craft — boats
  24. rash — on the skin

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