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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. last — final
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. last — finally
  6. chest — of your body
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. foot — a measure
  10. scale — in music
  11. last — to go on
  12. pit — a hole
  13. pit — in a race
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chest — a box
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. rule — a law
  18. scale — size or range
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. rule — government
  21. capital — a city
  22. capital — money
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. scale — for weighing

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