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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. track — a song
  3. stick — to attach or keep to
  4. spell — letters
  5. game — wild animals
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. track — a path
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. capital — a city
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. spell — a short time
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. spell — magic
  20. game — a match
  21. capital — money
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. track — to keep track

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