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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: hand · race · chair · bore · season · cabinet · capital · roll

  1. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. hand — help
  3. capital — money
  4. capital — a city
  5. chair — a leader
  6. hand — in cards
  7. race — humankind
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. roll — a cake
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. race — the arms race
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. season — of the year
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. season — in sport
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. race — a contest
  22. bore — to tire
  23. bore — to drill
  24. cabinet — ministers

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