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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. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. scale — size or range
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. file — a document
  7. net — after costs
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. capital — money
  10. file — a line of people
  11. scale — in music
  12. net — in sport
  13. tear — from crying
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. file — a tool
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. tear — to rip
  18. net — for catching
  19. capital — a city
  20. tear — from crying
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. sharp — clever
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. sharp — with an edge

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