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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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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 · stem · deal · cap · club · saw · capital · march

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. saw — the tool
  3. chair — a leader
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. club — for dancing
  6. stem — to come from
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. capital — money
  9. capital — a city
  10. march — the month
  11. march — music
  12. march — the month
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. club — for golf
  16. cap — a hat
  17. cap — of ice
  18. saw — the tool
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. club — a group
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. cap — a lid
  24. deal — to handle

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