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

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. club — a group
  3. chair — a leader
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. shower — to wash
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. bank — for money
  10. bank — of a river
  11. shower — rain
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. club — for golf
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. capital — a city
  17. branch — a division
  18. club — for dancing
  19. content — the amount
  20. content — happy
  21. bank — for money
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. capital — money

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