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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. leaves — of a tree
  4. land — a country
  5. capital — money
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. rock — a stone
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. rock — music
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. current — electric
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. field — a subject
  14. current — happening now
  15. capital — a city
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. field — for sport
  18. chair — a leader
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. field — farmland
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. current — of water
  23. land — ground
  24. land — to come down

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