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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 drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. cue — a signal
  3. wind — moving air
  4. spell — a short time
  5. cue — for pool
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. land — to come down
  8. net — in sport
  9. net — after costs
  10. spell — letters
  11. capital — money
  12. land — a country
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. land — ground
  15. rule — a law
  16. cue — a hint
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. capital — a city
  20. net — for catching
  21. wind — moving air
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. rule — government
  24. spell — magic

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