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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. capital — money
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. tube — the underground
  11. capital — a city
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. cold — an illness
  16. tube — a container
  17. squash — to crush
  18. squash — the sport
  19. pass — to succeed
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. stem — to come from
  22. cold — not warm
  23. pass — a permit
  24. straw — dry grass

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