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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in 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. capital — money
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. game — wild animals
  5. scale — in music
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. chip — for betting
  8. spring — a coil
  9. game — a match
  10. capital — a city
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. chip — to eat
  13. swing — to play on
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. scale — size or range
  16. spring — of water
  17. object — to protest
  18. swing — music
  19. object — a thing
  20. object — an aim
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. swing — in golf
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. spring — the season

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