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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: kid · bear · capital · chair · wake · branch · band · rule

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. chair — a leader
  3. capital — money
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. wake — a trail
  6. band — a music group
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. kid — child
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. rule — a law
  13. branch — a division
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. band — a ring
  18. bear — the animal
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. rule — government
  21. capital — a city
  22. bear — the animal
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. branch — of a bank

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