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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.

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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: chest · file · straw · capital · bound · pitcher · season · board

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. file — a document
  3. chest — a box
  4. board — a committee
  5. capital — money
  6. bound — certain
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. season — in sport
  10. season — of the year
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. file — a tool
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. bound — obliged
  16. board — to get on
  17. chest — of your body
  18. file — a line of people
  19. bound — tied together
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. chest — of your body
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. capital — a city
  24. pitcher — a jug

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