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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. hand — help
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. perch — the fish
  6. capital — money
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. wound — an injury
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. saw — the tool
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. hand — in cards
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. saw — the tool
  21. mine — for digging
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. wound — an injury

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