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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: straw · board · cell · wind · capital · leaves

  1. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. capital — a city
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. cell — a phone
  7. board — a committee
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. capital — money
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. cell — in biology
  12. board — to get on
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. wind — moving air

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