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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. staff — employees
  4. staff — employees
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. club — for golf
  7. staff — a stick
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. object — a thing
  10. capital — a city
  11. capital — money
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. degree — from a university
  15. object — an aim
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — for paper
  18. toast — bread
  19. degree — temperature
  20. degree — an amount
  21. club — a group
  22. clip — to cut
  23. object — to protest
  24. toast — the most admired

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