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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. bank — for money
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. capital — money
  6. capital — a city
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. spring — of water
  10. cold — not warm
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. bank — of a river
  15. spring — the season
  16. date — the fruit
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. bank — for money
  20. stand — to bear
  21. spring — a coil
  22. ruler — a monarch
  23. cold — an illness
  24. date — on the calendar

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