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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: stick · chair · row · capital · clip · scale

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. capital — money
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. stick — to attach or keep to
  5. row — a line
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. clip — to cut
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. scale — in music
  10. clip — a video
  11. clip — for paper
  12. chair — a leader
  13. capital — a city
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. scale — size or range
  18. row — to paddle

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