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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. tear — to rip
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. capital — money
  6. degree — from a university
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. file — a document
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. lie — to recline
  13. file — a tool
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. tear — from crying
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. file — a line of people
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. degree — an amount
  20. tear — from crying
  21. bark — to shout
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. bat — the animal
  24. degree — temperature

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