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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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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: capital · mate · perch · chair · scale · march · straw · dip

  1. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. mate — a partner
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. perch — the fish
  11. scale — in music
  12. mate — a friend
  13. march — the month
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. chair — a leader
  17. mate — to breed
  18. march — music
  19. capital — money
  20. march — the month
  21. dip — to sink
  22. capital — a city
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. scale — size or range

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