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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. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. present — there
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. chair — a leader
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. mate — a partner
  10. dip — to sink
  11. present — a gift
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. capital — money
  14. capital — a city
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. hand — help
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. kid — child
  19. mate — a friend
  20. present — the time now
  21. kid — to tease
  22. hand — in cards
  23. mate — to breed
  24. date — the fruit

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