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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 120 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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. march — the month
  3. spell — a short time
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. march — the month
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. spell — magic
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. spell — letters
  11. bound — tied together
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. bound — certain
  15. march — music
  16. rest — what's left
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. rest — a break
  19. capital — a city
  20. degree — temperature
  21. rest — what's left
  22. degree — an amount
  23. bound — obliged
  24. degree — from a university

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