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

Word bank: capital · ground · tear · straw · club · wake

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. tear — from crying
  3. club — for golf
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. wake — a trail
  6. capital — a city
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. tear — to rip
  9. ground — the earth
  10. ground — crushed
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. ground — a position
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. tear — from crying
  16. club — a group
  17. club — for dancing
  18. straw — a straw man

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