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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  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. snap — to speak sharply
  2. mate — a partner
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. capital — money
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. capital — a city
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. mate — a friend
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. degree — from a university
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. degree — temperature
  15. degree — an amount
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. snap — to click
  18. perch — the fish
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. mate — to breed
  23. perch — for a bird
  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