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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: chair · current · saw · capital · press · fine · cell · shower

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. current — electric
  3. cell — a phone
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. saw — the tool
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. capital — money
  8. fine — all right
  9. press — a publisher
  10. shower — to wash
  11. press — to push
  12. press — newspapers
  13. chair — a leader
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. fine — high quality
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. cell — in biology
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. capital — a city
  22. current — of water
  23. shower — rain
  24. current — happening now

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