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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. rash — hasty
  3. capital — a city
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. net — after costs
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. file — a line of people
  8. file — a tool
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. net — in sport
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. capital — money
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. rash — a series
  20. file — a document
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. net — for catching
  24. straw — dry grass

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