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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. object — to protest
  3. net — for catching
  4. bound — obliged
  5. net — in sport
  6. row — to paddle
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. season — in sport
  9. capital — a city
  10. bound — tied together
  11. prune — to trim
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. object — a thing
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. season — of the year
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. row — a line
  20. object — an aim
  21. net — after costs
  22. prune — to trim
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. bound — certain

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