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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 would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. can — a tin
  3. capital — money
  4. stem — to come from
  5. shower — rain
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. tear — to rip
  9. tear — from crying
  10. shower — to wash
  11. squash — the sport
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. object — a thing
  14. capital — a city
  15. tear — from crying
  16. can — a tin
  17. squash — to crush
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. object — an aim
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. can — to be able to
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. bark — to shout

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