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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: chair · capital · firm · last · land · face · fine · board

  1. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. face — part of the head
  4. board — to get on
  5. last — to go on
  6. firm — steady
  7. board — a committee
  8. last — final
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. land — ground
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. fine — high quality
  14. firm — a company
  15. last — finally
  16. firm — decided
  17. land — a country
  18. capital — a city
  19. face — to confront
  20. chair — a leader
  21. face — to point toward
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. capital — money
  24. land — to come down

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