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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: tube · capital · bay · spell · straw · cold · court · chair

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. cold — not warm
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. spell — a short time
  5. court — of a king
  6. spell — magic
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. chair — a leader
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. capital — money
  11. tube — a container
  12. cold — an illness
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. court — of law
  16. tube — the underground
  17. capital — a city
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. court — for sport
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. spell — letters
  24. chair — to sit on

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