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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  4. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. rest — a break
  3. jam — a tight spot
  4. jam — in traffic
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. capital — money
  7. chair — a leader
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. cap — of ice
  10. rest — what's left
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. cap — a lid
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. rest — what's left
  18. cap — a hat
  19. spring — a coil
  20. plane — a tool
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. spring — the season
  23. jam — to spread on bread
  24. spring — of water

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