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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. capital — a city
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. row — to paddle
  8. spring — a coil
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. mate — a friend
  11. capital — money
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. game — wild animals
  14. row — a line
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. mate — a partner
  17. mate — to breed
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. game — a match
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. spring — of water
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. spring — the season

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