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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: straw · capital · season · fall · chip · spell · track · pitcher

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. track — to keep track
  5. track — a song
  6. season — of the year
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. track — a path
  9. chip — to eat
  10. capital — money
  11. fall — the season
  12. fall — to drop
  13. spell — a short time
  14. chip — for betting
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. spell — letters
  19. capital — a city
  20. spell — magic
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. season — in sport
  24. chip — in a computer

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