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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: chair · mine · face · band · net · capital · fine · ball

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. net — for catching
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. face — to point toward
  5. ball — a great time
  6. fine — high quality
  7. net — after costs
  8. fine — all right
  9. band — a music group
  10. capital — money
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. band — a ring
  15. mine — for digging
  16. ball — a dance
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. capital — a city
  19. net — in sport
  20. face — part of the head
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. face — to confront
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. chair — a leader

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