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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: land · object · capital · rule · rock · fan · current · chair

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. object — a thing
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. object — an aim
  5. chair — a leader
  6. capital — money
  7. rule — a law
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. rock — music
  11. land — ground
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. land — to come down
  15. current — happening now
  16. current — electric
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. capital — a city
  19. object — to protest
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. land — a country
  22. rock — a stone
  23. current — of water
  24. fan — to cool the air

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