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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. capital — money
  3. cold — an illness
  4. mark — a trace
  5. bear — the animal
  6. face — to confront
  7. bear — the animal
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. wound — an injury
  13. charge — a price
  14. mark — a grade
  15. charge — in control
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. capital — a city
  18. face — part of the head
  19. chair — a leader
  20. wound — an injury
  21. charge — electricity
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. face — to point toward
  24. cold — not warm

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