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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
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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: tube · wind · foot · coach · capital · straw · tear · rush

  1. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. tear — from crying
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. wind — moving air
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. tube — the underground
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. rush — hurry
  13. tear — from crying
  14. capital — a city
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. capital — money
  17. tear — to rip
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. tube — a container
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. wind — moving air
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. straw — a straw man

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