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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 120 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: rock · bat · can · straw · capital · chair · wake · chest

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. rock — music
  3. chest — a box
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. can — a tin
  6. chair — a leader
  7. capital — a city
  8. chest — of your body
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. capital — money
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. can — to be able to
  14. bat — the animal
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. wake — a trail
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. chest — of your body
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. rock — a stone
  24. can — a tin

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