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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. bass — low music
  3. last — to go on
  4. spring — the season
  5. bound — tied together
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. spring — of water
  9. chair — a leader
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. capital — money
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. bound — obliged
  15. last — finally
  16. hand — in cards
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. bass — the fish
  19. bound — certain
  20. last — final
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. hand — help
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. spring — a coil

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