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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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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: tube · season · capital · deal · chest · straw · pitcher · scale

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. tube — the underground
  3. deal — to handle
  4. capital — money
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. chest — a box
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. tube — a container
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. scale — size or range
  15. season — in sport
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. scale — in music
  18. chest — of your body
  19. season — of the year
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. capital — a city
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. chest — of your body

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