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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. club — a group
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. capital — money
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. degree — an amount
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. race — the arms race
  10. race — a contest
  11. race — humankind
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. row — a line
  14. club — for golf
  15. prune — to trim
  16. row — to paddle
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. club — for dancing
  19. prune — to trim
  20. degree — temperature
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. degree — from a university
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. capital — a city

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