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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  14. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  19. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. season — in sport
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. press — to push
  7. chair — a leader
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. press — newspapers
  12. game — wild animals
  13. jam — a tight spot
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. press — a publisher
  16. capital — money
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. safe — a strongbox
  19. jam — in traffic
  20. game — a match
  21. jam — to spread on bread
  22. season — of the year
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. chair — to sit on

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