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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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. capital — a city
  3. bank — for money
  4. fall — to drop
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. pop — to visit
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. capital — money
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. pop — music
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. cap — of ice
  13. fall — to drop
  14. bank — for money
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. pop — soda
  18. perch — the fish
  19. bank — of a river
  20. cap — a hat
  21. fall — the season
  22. cap — a lid
  23. fork — in a road
  24. perch — for a bird

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