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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. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a cup
  2. mug — a face
  3. mug — to rob
  4. band — a ring
  5. prune — to trim
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. mine — for digging
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. net — in sport
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. capital — money
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. net — for catching
  17. capital — a city
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. net — after costs
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. band — a music group
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. sharp — clever
  24. prune — to trim

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