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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. scale — in music
  4. drill — the tool
  5. game — wild animals
  6. shower — to wash
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. drill — a practice
  10. capital — a city
  11. drill — army training
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. file — a tool
  14. file — a document
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. mark — a grade
  18. shower — rain
  19. file — a line of people
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. scale — size or range
  23. game — a match
  24. mark — a trace

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