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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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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: hand · craft · degree · saw · lean · fan · capital · straw

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. lean — to bend
  4. capital — a city
  5. hand — in cards
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. craft — a skill
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. lean — thin
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. saw — the tool
  16. hand — help
  17. craft — boats
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. degree — from a university
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. saw — the tool
  22. capital — money
  23. degree — temperature
  24. degree — an amount

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