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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. perch — the fish
  3. club — a group
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. club — for golf
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. club — for dancing
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. capital — a city
  17. capital — money
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. spring — the season
  20. rule — government
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. spring — of water
  23. rule — a law
  24. spring — a coil

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