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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. shower — to wash
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. shower — rain
  8. capital — money
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. game — wild animals
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. game — a match
  18. date — the fruit
  19. toast — bread
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. mine — for digging
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. capital — a city

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