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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 · perch · tear · content · arm · club · capital · tube

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. capital — money
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. tear — from crying
  5. club — a group
  6. content — happy
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. content — the amount
  9. tear — to rip
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. capital — a city
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. club — for golf
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. club — for dancing
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. tube — a container
  20. tear — from crying
  21. tube — the underground
  22. perch — the fish
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. perch — for a bird

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