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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: chip · fall · coach · pitcher · chair · capital · cold · can

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  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. pitcher — a jug
  2. can — a tin
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. cold — not warm
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. can — to be able to
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. fall — to drop
  12. fall — to drop
  13. chip — to eat
  14. chip — for betting
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. capital — a city
  18. chair — a leader
  19. cold — an illness
  20. can — a tin
  21. fall — the season
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. chip — in a computer
  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