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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  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. drill — army training
  2. lean — to bend
  3. game — wild animals
  4. lean — thin
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. shower — rain
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. rock — music
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. shower — to wash
  12. drill — the tool
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. game — a match
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. bound — tied together
  17. capital — a city
  18. bound — obliged
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. bound — certain
  21. drill — a practice
  22. capital — money
  23. rock — a stone
  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