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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 get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. hand — help
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. spell — magic
  9. ball — a dance
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. capital — a city
  12. board — a committee
  13. kick — in football
  14. spell — letters
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. hand — in cards
  17. ball — a great time
  18. spell — a short time
  19. capital — money
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. board — to get on
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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