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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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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: club · cap · mouse · kid · capital · chair · file · straw

  1. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. capital — money
  3. kid — to tease
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. chair — a leader
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. file — a document
  8. kid — child
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. cap — a lid
  12. club — a group
  13. cap — of ice
  14. cap — a hat
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. file — a tool
  18. capital — a city
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. file — a line of people
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. club — for dancing
  23. club — for golf
  24. straw — dry grass

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