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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. row — to paddle
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. tear — to rip
  7. chair — a leader
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. staff — employees
  12. capital — money
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. staff — a stick
  16. tear — from crying
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. tear — from crying
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. staff — employees
  23. row — a line
  24. mine — for digging

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