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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 120 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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: content · pit · cabinet · capital · present · chair

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. capital — money
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. present — there
  6. chair — a leader
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. capital — a city
  9. content — the amount
  10. pit — a hole
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. pit — in a race
  14. content — happy
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. present — the time now
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. content — videos and posts

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