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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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468
Word bank
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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. cap — of ice
  3. hand — help
  4. rest — what's left
  5. capital — a city
  6. capital — money
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. file — a document
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. cap — a hat
  11. fork — in a road
  12. rest — a break
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. cap — a lid
  15. hand — in cards
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. rest — what's left
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. chip — to eat
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. chip — for betting
  23. file — a line of people
  24. chip — in a computer

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