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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. rule — a law
  5. spring — a coil
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. spring — of water
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. capital — money
  10. chip — to eat
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. spring — the season
  14. sharp — clever
  15. capital — a city
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. file — a document
  18. rule — government
  19. chip — for betting
  20. file — a line of people
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. court — of a king
  23. court — of law
  24. court — for sport

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