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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. court — of a king
  3. capital — a city
  4. shower — to wash
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. staff — employees
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. wound — an injury
  13. shower — rain
  14. staff — employees
  15. court — of law
  16. capital — money
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. wound — an injury
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. court — for sport
  21. staff — a stick
  22. mine — for digging
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. wake — a trail

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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