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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. capital — a city
  3. pit — a hole
  4. pit — in a race
  5. fall — the season
  6. clip — for paper
  7. stock — shares
  8. chair — a leader
  9. squash — to crush
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. drill — the tool
  12. capital — money
  13. clip — a video
  14. stock — goods
  15. drill — army training
  16. fall — to drop
  17. clip — to cut
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. drill — a practice
  21. squash — the sport
  22. fall — to drop
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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