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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.

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: mate · bark · row · capital · nail · chair · scale · mine

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. scale — size or range
  5. mate — to breed
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. mine — for digging
  8. mate — a friend
  9. row — a line
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. bark — to shout
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. chair — a leader
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. row — to paddle
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. capital — a city
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. capital — money
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. mate — a partner
  22. scale — in music
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. scale — for weighing

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