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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. bound — obliged
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. bound — tied together
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. bound — certain
  8. kid — to tease
  9. net — for catching
  10. dip — to sink
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. capital — a city
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. net — in sport
  17. net — after costs
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. mine — for digging
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. capital — money
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. kid — child
  24. fan — a supporter

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