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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. When will it ________________ you to start?
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. cold — not warm
  4. squash — the sport
  5. suit — in cards
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. wake — a trail
  8. suit — to fit
  9. mug — a cup
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. mug — a face
  12. chair — a leader
  13. file — a document
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. capital — a city
  16. cold — an illness
  17. suit — clothes
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. file — a tool
  20. mug — to rob
  21. capital — money
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. squash — to crush
  24. squash — the vegetable

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