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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: spell · pitcher · capital · rule · field · march · chair · hide

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. chair — a leader
  4. march — music
  5. spell — magic
  6. march — the month
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. capital — a city
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. march — the month
  15. field — for sport
  16. capital — money
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. spell — a short time
  19. rule — a law
  20. field — a subject
  21. rule — government
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. field — farmland
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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