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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 116 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: chair · perch · branch · last · club · capital · wake · cap

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. capital — money
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. branch — a division
  6. cap — of ice
  7. club — for golf
  8. club — for dancing
  9. last — final
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. capital — a city
  15. last — finally
  16. club — a group
  17. last — to go on
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. wake — a trail
  20. chair — a leader
  21. cap — a hat
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. perch — the fish
  24. cap — a lid

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