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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. firm — a company
  3. perch — the fish
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. firm — decided
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. capital — money
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. key — the most important part
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. key — in music
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. firm — steady
  16. key — for a lock
  17. pitch — completely
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. bat — the animal
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cold — an illness
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. capital — a city
  24. perch — for a bird

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