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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 120 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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. fall — the season
  5. fall — to drop
  6. kid — child
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. hand — in cards
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. mark — a trace
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. fall — to drop
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. hand — help
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. stem — to come from
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. mark — a grade
  23. capital — a city
  24. kid — to tease

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