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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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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: capital · cap · chair · degree · club · root

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. root — of a word
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. cap — of ice
  5. degree — from a university
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. chair — a leader
  8. degree — temperature
  9. degree — an amount
  10. root — of a plant
  11. cap — a lid
  12. club — for golf
  13. root — the cause
  14. capital — money
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. capital — a city
  17. cap — a hat
  18. club — for dancing

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