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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. capital — a city
  3. last — finally
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. last — final
  6. dip — to sink
  7. kid — child
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. degree — an amount
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. capital — money
  12. stem — to come from
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. degree — temperature
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. kid — to tease
  18. degree — from a university
  19. last — to go on
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. chair — a leader
  24. stem — a stem cell

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