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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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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 beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. tube — the underground
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. file — a line of people
  6. file — a tool
  7. capital — a city
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. bulb — for light
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. file — a document
  13. perch — the fish
  14. capital — money
  15. shower — to wash
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. shower — rain
  22. kick — in football
  23. tube — a container
  24. bulb — for light

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