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

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. capital — a city
  3. game — a match
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. tear — from crying
  7. date — the fruit
  8. wind — moving air
  9. object — a thing
  10. game — wild animals
  11. capital — money
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. key — for a lock
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. object — an aim
  18. tear — from crying
  19. tear — to rip
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. wind — moving air
  22. key — in music
  23. key — the most important part
  24. object — to protest

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