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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 116 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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. net — after costs
  3. capital — money
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. net — in sport
  6. hand — help
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. chip — for betting
  9. capital — a city
  10. net — for catching
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. hand — in cards
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. chip — to eat

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