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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. kick — in football
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. clip — to cut
  6. tear — from crying
  7. capital — money
  8. clip — for paper
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. deal — to handle
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. field — for sport
  13. field — a subject
  14. tear — to rip
  15. rush — hurry
  16. clip — a video
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. field — farmland
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. tear — from crying
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. rush — a thrill

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