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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 124 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. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. prune — to trim
  4. capital — money
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. chair — a leader
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. pass — a permit
  11. mine — for digging
  12. roll — a list
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. capital — a city
  15. race — a contest
  16. pit — in a race
  17. race — humankind
  18. roll — a cake
  19. pass — to succeed
  20. pit — a hole
  21. race — the arms race
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. prune — to trim
  24. mine — belonging to me

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