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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: pass · chair · capital · bark · chest · degree

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  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. bark — a dog's sound
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. bark — to shout
  4. chair — a leader
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. capital — a city
  7. capital — money
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. degree — temperature
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chest — a box
  12. degree — from a university
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. pass — a permit
  16. degree — an amount
  17. capital — a big letter
  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