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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. rule — a law
  3. squash — to crush
  4. capital — a city
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. race — a contest
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. race — the arms race
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. rule — government
  11. squash — the sport
  12. ball — a dance
  13. capital — money
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. race — humankind
  17. chair — a leader
  18. ball — a great time
  19. kid — to tease
  20. kid — child
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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