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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 116 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. When will it ________________ you to start?
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — to fit
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. field — for sport
  4. field — a subject
  5. row — a line
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. snap — to click
  8. rule — a law
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. capital — money
  12. field — farmland
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. present — the time now
  15. suit — clothes
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. capital — a city
  19. present — a gift
  20. row — to paddle
  21. suit — in cards
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. rule — government
  24. present — there

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