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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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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: club · degree · chair · bank · field · capital

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. club — for golf
  3. capital — a city
  4. capital — money
  5. club — a group
  6. bank — of a river
  7. field — farmland
  8. field — for sport
  9. chair — a leader
  10. field — a subject
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. bank — for money
  13. degree — temperature
  14. club — for dancing
  15. bank — for money
  16. degree — from a university
  17. degree — an amount
  18. chair — to sit on

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