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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. tube — a container
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. chip — to eat
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. kid — to tease
  8. chip — for betting
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. band — a ring
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. degree — from a university
  14. capital — a city
  15. capital — money
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. degree — an amount
  19. kid — child
  20. tube — the underground
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. degree — temperature
  23. vault — a safe
  24. band — a music group

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