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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. cap — of ice
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. spell — letters
  10. drill — the tool
  11. cap — a hat
  12. capital — money
  13. spell — magic
  14. drill — army training
  15. swing — to play on
  16. squash — the sport
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. capital — a city
  19. squash — to crush
  20. swing — in golf
  21. swing — music
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. spell — a short time
  24. drill — a practice

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