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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. cold — not warm
  3. wax — to grow
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. present — there
  10. capital — a city
  11. present — a gift
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. stock — goods
  15. court — of a king
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. court — for sport
  18. stock — shares
  19. cold — an illness
  20. present — the time now
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. capital — money
  23. safe — a strongbox
  24. court — of law

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