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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. fall — to drop
  3. net — in sport
  4. net — for catching
  5. spell — letters
  6. spell — a short time
  7. fall — the season
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. net — after costs
  12. capital — a city
  13. march — music
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. capital — money
  16. sharp — clever
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. march — the month
  19. march — the month
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. fall — to drop
  22. spell — magic
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. sharp — exactly

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