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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: pitch · roll · chest · capital · chair · can · craft · cold

  1. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. roll — a list
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. capital — a city
  6. craft — boats
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. chest — a box
  9. capital — money
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. cold — not warm
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. roll — a cake
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chair — a leader
  16. can — to be able to
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. can — a tin
  22. pitch — completely
  23. chest — of your body
  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