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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. capital — a city
  3. deal — to handle
  4. spring — of water
  5. spring — a coil
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. cue — for pool
  10. ground — the earth
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. shower — to wash
  13. ground — a position
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. cue — a signal
  17. spring — the season
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. shower — rain
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. capital — money
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. ground — crushed
  24. deal — a big deal

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