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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. tear — from crying
  3. bound — tied together
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. bound — obliged
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. tear — to rip
  9. bound — certain
  10. capital — money
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. rush — hurry
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. tear — from crying
  17. capital — a city
  18. cold — an illness

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