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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.

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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: bay · wind · spell · pitch · date · charge · capital · straw

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. My mare is ________________ in color.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. charge — electricity
  4. spell — a short time
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. pitch — completely
  8. spell — letters
  9. charge — a price
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. spell — magic
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. wind — moving air
  17. date — the fruit
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. charge — in control
  20. wind — moving air
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. bay — a horse colour
  24. capital — money

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