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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. track — a path
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. ground — crushed
  9. track — to keep track
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. perch — the fish
  12. track — a song
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. ground — a position
  16. wake — a trail
  17. capital — a city
  18. capital — money
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. ground — the earth
  24. straw — dry grass

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