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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: clip · spell · capital · bat · chair · temple · straw · wake

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. spell — magic
  4. bat — the animal
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. wake — a trail
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. clip — for paper
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. clip — a video
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. clip — to cut
  15. spell — letters
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. capital — money
  20. capital — a city
  21. spell — a short time
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. temple — a place of worship

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