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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.

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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: shower · bore · chip · mark · capital · straw · hide · chair

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. capital — a city
  4. mark — a trace
  5. mark — a grade
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. bore — to drill
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. capital — money
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. chip — for betting
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. chair — a leader
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. chip — to eat
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. bore — to tire
  20. shower — rain
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. hide — animal skin

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