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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: band · rule · chair · rest · capital · arm

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. rule — government
  3. capital — money
  4. band — a music group
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. chair — a leader
  9. capital — a city
  10. rest — a break
  11. rest — what's left
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. rule — a law
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. rest — what's left
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. band — a ring

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