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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. stem — to come from
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. fork — in a road
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. pitch — completely
  9. shower — to wash
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. spell — letters
  13. race — a contest
  14. spell — a short time
  15. capital — a city
  16. shower — rain
  17. race — humankind
  18. capital — money
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. race — the arms race
  21. tear — from crying
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. tear — to rip
  24. spell — magic

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