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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. deal — to handle
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. capital — money
  8. chest — of your body
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. ground — a position
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. cell — a phone
  15. chest — of your body
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. ground — crushed
  18. land — to come down
  19. land — a country
  20. cell — in biology
  21. land — ground
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. capital — a city
  24. ground — the earth

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