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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 120 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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. march — music
  3. wound — an injury
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. drill — army training
  8. capital — a city
  9. march — the month
  10. march — the month
  11. wound — an injury
  12. drill — the tool
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. lean — to bend
  15. tube — a container
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. capital — money
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. tube — the underground
  22. drill — a practice
  23. lean — thin
  24. straw — dry grass

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