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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 120 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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. mate — a friend
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. chest — a box
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. mate — a partner
  7. net — after costs
  8. capital — money
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. mate — to breed
  12. chest — of your body
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. net — in sport
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. chest — of your body
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. wake — a trail
  23. net — for catching
  24. fan — to cool the air

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