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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. cold — not warm
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. capital — money
  5. hand — help
  6. hand — in cards
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. branch — a division
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. rash — hasty
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. chair — a leader
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. rash — a series
  24. capital — a city

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