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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. file — a line of people
  4. can — to be able to
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. band — a ring
  8. file — a tool
  9. race — humankind
  10. race — a contest
  11. capital — money
  12. squash — the sport
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. can — a tin
  16. can — a tin
  17. band — a music group
  18. file — a document
  19. scale — in music
  20. capital — a city
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. scale — size or range
  23. race — the arms race
  24. squash — the vegetable

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