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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. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. kick — in football
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. rash — a series
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. rash — hasty
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. capital — a city
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. club — for golf
  13. capital — money
  14. clip — for paper
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. rush — hurry
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. club — a group
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. club — for dancing
  23. clip — a video
  24. clip — to cut

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