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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. game — a match
  7. file — a line of people
  8. capital — a city
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. lean — to bend
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. lean — thin
  14. file — a document
  15. game — wild animals
  16. hand — in cards
  17. file — a tool
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. capital — money
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. hand — help
  22. chair — a leader
  23. plane — a tool
  24. lean — to rest against

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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