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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 120 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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. capital — a city
  4. object — to protest
  5. chair — a leader
  6. prune — to trim
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. capital — money
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. bass — the fish
  13. stock — goods
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. prune — to trim
  16. wound — an injury
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. wound — an injury
  21. bass — low music
  22. object — a thing
  23. object — an aim
  24. stock — shares

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