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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: cap · club · chair · branch · bound · kid · deal · fall

  1. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. kid — to tease
  3. club — for golf
  4. bound — certain
  5. chair — a leader
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. bound — obliged
  8. bound — tied together
  9. club — a group
  10. fall — the season
  11. kid — child
  12. deal — to handle
  13. cap — a lid
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. branch — a division
  17. fall — to drop
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. fall — to drop
  20. cap — a hat
  21. club — for dancing
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. cap — of ice

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