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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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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 put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. chair — a leader
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. cold — not warm
  6. face — to confront
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. deal — to handle
  10. kick — in football
  11. cold — an illness
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. face — part of the head
  18. capital — money
  19. capital — a city
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. face — to point toward
  22. band — a music group
  23. band — a ring
  24. kick — a thrill

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