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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. kid — child
  3. capital — a city
  4. spell — letters
  5. bank — for money
  6. spell — magic
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. kid — to tease
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. race — a contest
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. capital — money
  16. perch — the fish
  17. race — the arms race
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. spell — a short time
  22. bank — for money
  23. bank — of a river
  24. race — humankind

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