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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. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. chair — a leader
  4. prune — to trim
  5. press — to push
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. capital — a city
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. rule — a law
  11. prune — to trim
  12. press — a publisher
  13. squash — the sport
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. degree — from a university
  17. degree — temperature
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. rule — government
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. capital — money
  22. squash — to crush
  23. degree — an amount
  24. press — newspapers

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