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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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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: pitcher · bowl · mate · capital · straw · ball · tear · chest

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. chest — of your body
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. mate — a partner
  7. chest — of your body
  8. tear — from crying
  9. ball — a dance
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. tear — from crying
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. ball — a great time
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. capital — a city
  18. tear — to rip
  19. mate — to breed
  20. mate — a friend
  21. capital — money
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. chest — a box

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