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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: last · branch · chair · capital · perch · racket · foot · wind

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. wind — moving air
  5. branch — a division
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. capital — money
  8. perch — the fish
  9. last — final
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. last — to go on
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. wind — moving air
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. foot — a measure
  21. chair — a leader
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. last — finally
  24. perch — for a bird

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