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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: straw · deal · mate · coach · capital · chest · wax · spell

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. wax — to grow
  3. mate — a partner
  4. spell — a short time
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. capital — a city
  7. chest — of your body
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. deal — to handle
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. spell — magic
  13. spell — letters
  14. capital — money
  15. mate — a friend
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. chest — a box
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. mate — to breed
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. deal — a big deal

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