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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: bank · date · straw · fall · degree · spell · mine · capital

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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 — money
  3. fall — to drop
  4. capital — a city
  5. date — the fruit
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. spell — a short time
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. bank — for money
  12. degree — from a university
  13. degree — an amount
  14. fall — to drop
  15. bank — for money
  16. degree — temperature
  17. bank — of a river
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. spell — magic
  21. fall — the season
  22. spell — letters
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. mine — for digging

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