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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: stock · march · present · capital · chair · branch

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. capital — a city
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. stock — goods
  6. present — there
  7. branch — a division
  8. march — the month
  9. chair — a leader
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. stock — shares
  12. present — the time now
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. march — music
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. march — the month
  17. capital — money
  18. present — a gift

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