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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 120 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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. When will it ________________ you to start?
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. tear — from crying
  4. rash — hasty
  5. band — a ring
  6. fall — to drop
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. fall — the season
  9. suit — to fit
  10. wound — an injury
  11. hand — help
  12. hand — in cards
  13. rash — a series
  14. band — a music group
  15. wound — an injury
  16. suit — clothes
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. suit — in cards
  19. tear — to rip
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. tear — from crying
  22. fall — to drop
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. capital — money

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