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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: bank · straw · capital · march · chair · cell · firm · tube

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. chair — a leader
  3. march — music
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. tube — the underground
  6. bank — for money
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. cell — a phone
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. firm — a company
  13. cell — in biology
  14. firm — steady
  15. bank — of a river
  16. firm — decided
  17. tube — a container
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. march — the month
  20. capital — money
  21. march — the month
  22. bank — for money
  23. capital — a city
  24. straw — dry grass

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