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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
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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 · mine · firm · march · bass · band · capital · pitch

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. march — the month
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. firm — decided
  5. capital — a city
  6. mine — for digging
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. firm — a company
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. bass — low music
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. march — the month
  14. capital — money
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. band — a music group
  18. chair — a leader
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. march — music
  21. pitch — completely
  22. bass — the fish
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. firm — steady

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