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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: firm · march · mine · pitcher · chest · chair · capital · tube

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. capital — a city
  3. tube — the underground
  4. chest — of your body
  5. chair — a leader
  6. chest — a box
  7. chest — of your body
  8. capital — money
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. firm — steady
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. march — the month
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. mine — for digging
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. march — music
  19. firm — a company
  20. tube — a container
  21. firm — decided
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. march — the month
  24. capital — a big letter

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