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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. scale — size or range
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. capital — a city
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. bass — low music
  7. saw — the tool
  8. cap — a lid
  9. chair — a leader
  10. saw — the tool
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. mate — a friend
  13. cap — a hat
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. cap — of ice
  16. shower — rain
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. bass — the fish
  21. capital — money
  22. scale — in music
  23. shower — to wash
  24. mate — a partner

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