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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. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. capital — money
  4. row — a line
  5. file — a document
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. file — a line of people
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. staff — employees
  11. row — to paddle
  12. file — a tool
  13. staff — employees
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. capital — a city
  19. charge — in control
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. charge — a price
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. charge — electricity
  24. bat — the animal

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