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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: chair · squash · capital · kick · leaves · ball · file · land

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. land — ground
  4. squash — the sport
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. squash — to crush
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. capital — money
  10. land — to come down
  11. kick — in football
  12. chair — a leader
  13. file — a document
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. file — a tool
  19. ball — a great time
  20. land — a country
  21. ball — a dance
  22. file — a line of people
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. leaves — of a tree

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