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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 124 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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468
Word bank
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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. When will it ________________ you to start?
  2. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  6. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — to fit
  2. suit — in cards
  3. rule — government
  4. rule — a law
  5. safe — a strongbox
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. capital — money
  8. file — a document
  9. file — a line of people
  10. degree — an amount
  11. suit — clothes
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. capital — a city
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. degree — temperature
  18. kid — to tease
  19. file — a tool
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. kid — child
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. degree — from a university

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