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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. rule — a law
  3. bank — of a river
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. last — to go on
  6. last — final
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. bank — for money
  9. rule — government
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. cold — not warm
  14. cold — an illness
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. capital — a city
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. last — finally
  20. bank — for money
  21. pitch — completely
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. capital — money
  24. pitch — a sports field

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