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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. game — a match
  4. firm — steady
  5. firm — a company
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. firm — decided
  11. wake — a trail
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. capital — money
  15. field — farmland
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. chest — a box
  18. field — a subject
  19. field — for sport
  20. chest — of your body
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. chest — of your body
  23. game — wild animals
  24. capital — a city

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