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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: cap · lean · bat · pop · coach · tear · straw · chip

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. pop — to visit
  3. pop — music
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. bat — the animal
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. lean — to bend
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. chip — for betting
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. cap — a hat
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. chip — to eat
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tear — to rip
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. cap — of ice
  19. lean — thin
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. tear — from crying
  23. pop — soda
  24. straw — a straw man

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