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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. chest — a box
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. rule — a law
  8. press — a publisher
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. sharp — clever
  12. chest — of your body
  13. chest — of your body
  14. press — to push
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. capital — a city
  17. capital — money
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. press — newspapers
  22. deal — to handle
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. rule — government

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