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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: board · rush · clip · march · ruler · chair · capital · fork

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. capital — money
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. board — to get on
  5. rush — hurry
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. march — the month
  9. clip — to cut
  10. clip — for paper
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. clip — a video
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. ruler — a monarch
  17. march — music
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. board — a committee
  20. capital — a city
  21. march — the month
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. fork — in a road

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