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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 124 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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. court — of law
  3. capital — a city
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. squash — the sport
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. squash — to crush
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. capital — money
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. vault — a safe
  14. file — a document
  15. object — a thing
  16. court — for sport
  17. toast — bread
  18. file — a tool
  19. court — of a king
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. toast — a drink to someone
  22. object — an aim
  23. file — a line of people
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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