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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 beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. He refilled his coffee ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. spring — the season
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. ground — crushed
  6. capital — a city
  7. spring — a coil
  8. ground — a position
  9. capital — money
  10. wind — moving air
  11. spring — of water
  12. mug — a face
  13. wind — moving air
  14. mug — to rob
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. ground — the earth
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. bark — to shout
  24. mug — a cup

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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