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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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468
Word bank
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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 met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  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. mine — belonging to me
  2. capital — a city
  3. chair — a leader
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. vault — a safe
  8. staff — employees
  9. file — a tool
  10. file — a document
  11. kid — to tease
  12. kid — child
  13. staff — a stick
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. staff — employees
  16. mine — for digging
  17. capital — money
  18. file — a line of people
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. capital — a big letter
  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