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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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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 · ground · mark · capital · pound · plane · rest · net

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. chair — a leader
  3. rest — what's left
  4. rest — a break
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. ground — crushed
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. mark — a trace
  9. net — for catching
  10. plane — a tool
  11. pound — a weight
  12. mark — a grade
  13. ground — a position
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. net — in sport
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. capital — a city
  19. ground — the earth
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. rest — what's left
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. net — after costs

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