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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 · tube · branch · capital · wind · saw · staff · chair

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. capital — money
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chest — of your body
  5. tube — a container
  6. capital — a city
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. tube — the underground
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. staff — employees
  11. branch — a division
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. wind — moving air
  14. saw — the tool
  15. chest — a box
  16. chair — a leader
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. staff — a stick
  19. saw — the tool
  20. staff — employees
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. wind — moving air
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. tube — in a tire

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