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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. bass — low music
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. capital — money
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. capital — a city
  12. mine — for digging
  13. plane — a tool
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. toast — bread
  18. branch — a division
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. bass — the fish

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