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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 116 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: pit · chip · lash · last · capital · chair · squash · degree

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. degree — from a university
  3. capital — money
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. capital — a city
  7. squash — the sport
  8. last — final
  9. chip — for betting
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. pit — a hole
  12. degree — temperature
  13. last — finally
  14. degree — an amount
  15. chair — a leader
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. squash — to crush
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. last — to go on
  20. chip — to eat
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. pit — in a race
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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