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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. press — a publisher
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. bear — the animal
  5. hand — in cards
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. bear — the animal
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. capital — money
  12. capital — a city
  13. field — farmland
  14. cap — a hat
  15. hand — help
  16. press — newspapers
  17. dip — to sink
  18. press — to push
  19. field — for sport
  20. field — a subject
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. cap — of ice
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. cap — a lid

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