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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.

Make a worksheet

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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: craft · capital · shower · clip · straw · rule

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. shower — to wash
  5. rule — a law
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. craft — a skill
  8. shower — rain
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. craft — boats
  11. capital — a city
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. capital — money
  15. clip — to cut
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. clip — for paper
  18. clip — a video

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