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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 120 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: band · shower · pitcher · chair · capital · charge · lean · wake

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. shower — to wash
  3. band — a ring
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. chair — a leader
  8. charge — in control
  9. shower — rain
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. lean — to bend
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. band — a music group
  15. lean — thin
  16. wake — a trail
  17. capital — a city
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. charge — a price
  23. charge — electricity
  24. capital — a big letter

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