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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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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. lean — thin
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. spell — magic
  6. net — after costs
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. net — in sport
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. chair — a leader
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. lean — to bend
  14. net — for catching
  15. spell — a short time
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. capital — a city
  18. bat — the animal
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. bound — obliged
  21. bound — certain
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. bound — tied together
  24. spell — letters

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