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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's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. capital — a city
  3. drill — the tool
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. ball — a dance
  6. ball — a great time
  7. track — a path
  8. rock — music
  9. drill — a practice
  10. prune — to trim
  11. track — to keep track
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. wound — an injury
  15. capital — money
  16. prune — to trim
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. track — a song
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. rock — a stone
  22. drill — army training
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. straw — dry grass

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