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

Word bank: chair · pitch · perch · capital · rule · kid · mug · key

  1. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. mug — a cup
  6. key — the most important part
  7. key — in music
  8. capital — money
  9. chair — a leader
  10. kid — child
  11. pitch — completely
  12. key — for a lock
  13. kid — to tease
  14. perch — the fish
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. mug — to rob
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. rule — government
  22. capital — a city
  23. rule — a law
  24. perch — for a bird

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