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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. court — of a king
  3. season — of the year
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. court — of law
  8. capital — a city
  9. wound — an injury
  10. capital — money
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. wound — an injury
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. court — for sport
  17. row — a line
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. foot — a measure
  20. season — in sport
  21. row — to paddle
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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