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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. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. bound — certain
  3. land — ground
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. ruler — a monarch
  6. capital — a city
  7. capital — money
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. land — a country
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. land — to come down
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bound — tied together
  15. row — to paddle
  16. tube — a container
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. tube — the underground
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. row — a line
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. bound — obliged
  24. row — a quarrel

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