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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.

Make a worksheet

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: capital · clip · pitcher · chair · hand · face · toast · craft

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. craft — a skill
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. clip — for paper
  6. toast — bread
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. face — to confront
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. chair — a leader
  11. capital — money
  12. face — to point toward
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. clip — a video
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. hand — in cards
  19. toast — a drink to someone
  20. capital — a city
  21. face — part of the head
  22. craft — boats
  23. clip — to cut
  24. chair — a professorship

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