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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. bank — for money
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. bank — of a river
  5. face — part of the head
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. capital — a city
  8. clip — to cut
  9. rule — a law
  10. stock — shares
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. stock — goods
  13. capital — money
  14. bank — for money
  15. rule — government
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. face — to confront
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. clip — a video
  21. fork — in a road
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. face — to point toward
  24. fork — to eat with

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