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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  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. chair — to sit on
  2. charge — in control
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. charge — electricity
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. net — after costs
  7. date — the fruit
  8. rush — hurry
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. kid — child
  12. bass — the fish
  13. charge — a price
  14. net — for catching
  15. capital — a city
  16. capital — money
  17. bass — low music
  18. kid — to tease
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. net — in sport
  23. date — on the calendar
  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