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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. wound — an injury
  3. chair — a leader
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. field — a subject
  7. ball — a great time
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. row — a line
  10. ball — a dance
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. capital — money
  13. last — finally
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. capital — a city
  16. wound — an injury
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. field — farmland
  19. last — final
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. field — for sport
  22. row — to paddle
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. last — to go 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