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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  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 — a straw man
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. row — a line
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. deal — to handle
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. present — a gift
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. snap — to click
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. row — to paddle
  19. sharp — clever
  20. capital — money
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. present — the time now
  23. present — there
  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