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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: shower · scale · straw · chair · pitch · capital · staff · roll

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. scale — size or range
  6. pitch — completely
  7. staff — employees
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. capital — a city
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. shower — to wash
  13. chair — a leader
  14. staff — a stick
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. scale — in music
  17. staff — employees
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. capital — money
  20. roll — a cake
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. roll — a list
  24. shower — rain

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