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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. row — a line
  5. fall — to drop
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. row — to paddle
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. object — to protest
  10. fall — to drop
  11. prune — to trim
  12. object — a thing
  13. prune — to trim
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. capital — a city
  17. capital — money
  18. fall — the season

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