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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. bore — to tire
  4. wind — moving air
  5. capital — a city
  6. chair — a leader
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. wind — moving air
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. court — for sport
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. hand — in cards
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. court — of law
  17. fall — to drop
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. hand — help
  20. fall — the season
  21. bore — to drill
  22. court — of a king
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. fall — to drop

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