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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 cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. chip — to eat
  4. race — a contest
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. tear — to rip
  10. capital — money
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. race — humankind
  13. capital — a city
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. court — of a king
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. court — of law
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. court — for sport
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. tear — from crying
  22. race — the arms race
  23. chair — a leader
  24. chip — for betting

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