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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: rock · chair · club · bound · perch · bass · capital · cold

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. cold — an illness
  3. club — for dancing
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. bound — certain
  7. bound — obliged
  8. capital — money
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. perch — the fish
  11. cold — not warm
  12. club — for golf
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. rock — a stone
  15. chair — a leader
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. rock — music
  18. bass — low music
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. bass — the fish
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. bound — tied together
  24. club — a group

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