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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. capital — a city
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. mate — a friend
  5. swing — to play on
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. swing — in golf
  8. degree — from a university
  9. squash — the sport
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. capital — money
  15. swing — music
  16. degree — an amount
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. squash — to crush
  19. mate — a partner
  20. shower — to wash
  21. degree — temperature
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. shower — rain
  24. capital — a big letter

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