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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. court — for sport
  5. wind — moving air
  6. sharp — clever
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. capital — money
  9. craft — a skill
  10. root — the cause
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. court — of a king
  16. craft — boats
  17. court — of law
  18. root — of a word
  19. root — of a plant
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. wind — moving air
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. capital — a city
  24. capital — a big letter

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