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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. file — a line of people
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. mate — a partner
  7. rule — a law
  8. rash — hasty
  9. mate — to breed
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. capital — money
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. rash — a series
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. chair — a leader
  17. cell — in biology
  18. rule — government
  19. file — a tool
  20. file — a document
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. deal — to handle
  23. cell — a phone
  24. mate — a friend

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