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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 120 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: capital · chair · cell · pit · wake · straw

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. wake — a trail
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. capital — a city
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. cell — a phone
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. cell — in biology
  13. pit — in a race
  14. capital — money
  15. chair — a leader
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. pit — a hole
  18. pit — a fruit stone

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