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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. charge — electricity
  3. tear — from crying
  4. court — of law
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. clip — to cut
  7. charge — a price
  8. date — the fruit
  9. charge — in control
  10. clip — for paper
  11. clip — a video
  12. capital — a city
  13. court — of a king
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. staff — a stick
  17. staff — employees
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. tear — to rip
  21. court — for sport
  22. tear — from crying
  23. capital — money
  24. staff — employees

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