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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 120 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: tube · mate · capital · chair · band · cell

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. 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. tube — a container
  3. mate — a friend
  4. band — a music group
  5. tube — the underground
  6. capital — a city
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. mate — a partner
  9. cell — in biology
  10. cell — a phone
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. band — a ring
  13. chair — a leader
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. mate — to breed
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. 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