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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  21. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. rock — music
  5. file — a line of people
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. capital — money
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. capital — a city
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. content — the amount
  17. file — a document
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. rock — a stone
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. ruler — a monarch
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. content — happy
  24. file — a tool

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