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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: spring · arm · chair · deal · capital · stock · bank · pitcher

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. stock — goods
  5. spring — a coil
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. capital — money
  10. stock — shares
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. bank — for money
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. spring — of water
  16. chair — a leader
  17. deal — to handle
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. bank — of a river
  20. spring — the season
  21. capital — a city
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. bank — for money

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