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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. The tickets are free of ________________.
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. net — for catching
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. charge — electricity
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. race — humankind
  10. race — the arms race
  11. cold — an illness
  12. pit — a hole
  13. cold — not warm
  14. pit — in a race
  15. snap — to click
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. capital — money
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. capital — a city
  20. net — after costs
  21. net — in sport
  22. race — a contest
  23. charge — a price
  24. charge — in control

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