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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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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. game — a match
  3. date — the fruit
  4. spell — magic
  5. spell — letters
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. bank — of a river
  9. spell — a short time
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. chest — a box
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. bank — for money
  16. chest — of your body
  17. capital — a city
  18. bank — for money
  19. fork — in a road
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. game — wild animals
  23. capital — money
  24. chest — of your body

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