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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. The water is too ________________.
  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. cold — an illness
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. mark — a trace
  6. key — in music
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. key — the most important part
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. mine — for digging
  13. chair — a leader
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. mark — a grade
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. capital — money
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. capital — a city
  21. dip — to sink
  22. key — for a lock
  23. cold — not warm
  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