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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 goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. club — for dancing
  4. chip — to eat
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. bound — certain
  7. bark — to shout
  8. hand — in cards
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. bound — obliged
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. hand — help
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. bound — tied together
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. capital — money
  19. chip — for betting
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. club — a group
  23. club — for golf
  24. capital — a city

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