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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: wake · sharp · chair · present · straw · snap · file · capital

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. present — a gift
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. present — there
  9. wake — a trail
  10. present — the time now
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. file — a document
  14. sharp — clever
  15. file — a line of people
  16. capital — money
  17. capital — a city
  18. chair — a leader
  19. file — a tool
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. snap — to click
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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