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

Word bank: fork · capital · straw · wax · tear · leaves · root · shower

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. capital — money
  10. root — of a word
  11. tear — from crying
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tear — to rip
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. root — the cause
  17. shower — to wash
  18. shower — rain
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. capital — a city
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. root — of a plant
  23. wax — to grow
  24. fork — in a road

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