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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: straw · fork · wake · content · plane · fall · capital · mug

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. mug — a face
  3. capital — a city
  4. content — the amount
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. fall — to drop
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. mug — a cup
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. wake — a trail
  15. fall — to drop
  16. plane — a tool
  17. content — happy
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. mug — to rob
  22. fork — in a road
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. fall — the season

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