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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. stem — to come from
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. staff — employees
  5. rest — a break
  6. capital — a city
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. chair — a leader
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. mug — to rob
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. rest — what's left
  13. mug — a face
  14. staff — a stick
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. clip — to cut
  18. staff — employees
  19. clip — a video
  20. clip — for paper
  21. mine — for digging
  22. rest — what's left
  23. mug — a cup
  24. capital — money

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