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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 am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — a sudden rise
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. capital — money
  4. field — a subject
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. fine — all right
  7. hand — in cards
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. mate — a partner
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. field — for sport
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. hand — help
  17. field — farmland
  18. capital — a city
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. mate — a friend
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. mate — to breed
  24. fine — high quality

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