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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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. capital — a city
  3. hand — help
  4. club — a group
  5. rash — a series
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. club — for golf
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. club — for dancing
  13. wake — a trail
  14. toast — bread
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — moving air
  18. rash — hasty
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. hand — in cards
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. capital — money

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