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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 116 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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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 · scale · straw · leaves · mine · content · fork · capital

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. content — happy
  3. mine — for digging
  4. capital — a city
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. content — the amount
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. scale — size or range
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. capital — money
  18. pitch — completely
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. scale — in music
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. fork — in a road
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. scale — for weighing

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