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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 116 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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. chair — a leader
  3. rule — a law
  4. capital — money
  5. land — to come down
  6. kick — in football
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. track — a song
  10. track — a path
  11. rule — government
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. file — a line of people
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. land — ground
  16. land — a country
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. file — a document
  19. file — a tool
  20. track — to keep track
  21. wound — an injury
  22. capital — a city
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. chair — a professorship

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