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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.

Make a worksheet

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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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: fork · capital · chair · degree · saw · row

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. degree — an amount
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. fork — in a road
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. saw — the tool
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. degree — from a university
  11. degree — temperature
  12. row — a line
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. capital — money
  15. row — to paddle
  16. saw — the tool
  17. capital — a city
  18. chair — a leader

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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