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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. fall — to drop
  3. mate — a friend
  4. bound — obliged
  5. bound — certain
  6. capital — money
  7. race — humankind
  8. race — a contest
  9. saw — the tool
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. bound — tied together
  12. saw — the tool
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. wound — an injury
  16. mate — a partner
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. fall — the season
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. race — the arms race
  21. mate — to breed
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. capital — a city
  24. fall — to drop

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