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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 lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — with your hand
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. staff — employees
  5. capital — money
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. staff — employees
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. race — a contest
  10. kid — to tease
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. season — in sport
  14. race — the arms race
  15. staff — a stick
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. season — of the year
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. kid — child
  21. race — humankind
  22. capital — a city
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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