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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: chip · present · patient · wind · straw · kid · capital · tube

  1. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. chip — for betting
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. present — a gift
  6. chip — to eat
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. kid — to tease
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. capital — a city
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. wind — moving air
  17. capital — money
  18. tube — a container
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. kid — child
  21. present — the time now
  22. tube — the underground
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. wind — moving air

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