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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. saw — the tool
  4. face — part of the head
  5. face — to point toward
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. capital — a city
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. mate — a partner
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. roll — a list
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. saw — the tool
  16. mate — a friend
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. face — to confront
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. capital — money
  24. mate — to breed

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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