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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. He is an ace ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. I'll be taking 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. pitcher — in baseball
  3. capital — money
  4. tear — from crying
  5. file — a document
  6. tear — from crying
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. file — a tool
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. perch — the fish
  11. prune — to trim
  12. tear — to rip
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. prune — to trim
  15. capital — a city
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. file — a line of people
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. tube — a container
  24. tube — the underground

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