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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 116 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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. swing — to play on
  3. swing — music
  4. clip — to cut
  5. swing — in golf
  6. capital — money
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. stand — to bear
  9. capital — a city
  10. lean — to bend
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. clip — a video
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. scale — size or range
  17. tear — from crying
  18. scale — in music
  19. tear — to rip
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. tear — from crying
  23. clip — for paper
  24. lean — thin

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