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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 was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. tear — to rip
  4. craft — boats
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. tear — from crying
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. perch — the fish
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. capital — money
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. rule — government
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. rule — a law
  17. mine — for digging
  18. craft — a skill
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. tear — from crying
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. capital — a city
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. rule — to rule out

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