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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. capital — a city
  4. shower — rain
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. rest — what's left
  8. rest — a break
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. prune — to trim
  14. wound — an injury
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. prune — to trim
  17. mine — for digging
  18. wound — an injury
  19. capital — money
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. rest — what's left
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. shower — to wash

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