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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 116 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 second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. chip — to eat
  3. perch — the fish
  4. capital — a city
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. hand — in cards
  7. can — to be able to
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. chip — for betting
  11. can — a tin
  12. spring — the season
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. craft — a skill
  16. craft — boats
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. hand — help
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. spring — of water
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. can — a tin
  23. spring — a coil
  24. straw — a straw man

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