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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. bank — of a river
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. capital — money
  7. hand — in cards
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. bank — for money
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. wax — to grow
  12. capital — a city
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. sharp — clever
  15. scale — size or range
  16. scale — in music
  17. hand — help
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. bank — for money
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. bark — to shout
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. sharp — with an edge

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