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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 goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. kid — to tease
  3. bound — obliged
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. capital — money
  6. kid — child
  7. capital — a city
  8. shower — to wash
  9. bound — tied together
  10. face — to confront
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. face — to point toward
  14. face — part of the head
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. shower — rain
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. bound — certain

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