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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 seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. capital — money
  5. capital — a city
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. rash — hasty
  9. game — wild animals
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. chair — a leader
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. game — a match
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wind — moving air
  24. rash — a series

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