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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: wave · scale · cold · capital · branch · chair · net · saw

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. capital — a city
  3. scale — size or range
  4. capital — money
  5. branch — a division
  6. cold — not warm
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. net — in sport
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. scale — in music
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. saw — the tool
  16. net — after costs
  17. net — for catching
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. saw — the tool
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. chair — a leader
  24. chair — to sit on

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