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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. tear — to rip
  4. capital — a city
  5. cold — an illness
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. present — a gift
  8. present — there
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. present — the time now
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. tear — from crying
  15. cold — not warm
  16. tear — from crying
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. wind — moving air
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. wind — moving air

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