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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 · bass · roll · mine · saw · row · ground

  1. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. row — a line
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. bass — low music
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. row — to paddle
  7. capital — money
  8. ground — a position
  9. chair — a leader
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. saw — the tool
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. bass — the fish
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. mine — for digging
  17. ground — crushed
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. ground — the earth
  20. capital — a city
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. roll — a cake
  23. saw — the tool
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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