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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. degree — from a university
  3. tear — from crying
  4. tear — from crying
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. degree — an amount
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. tear — to rip
  10. stem — to come from
  11. degree — temperature
  12. capital — money
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. pop — to visit
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. capital — a city
  18. pop — music
  19. band — a ring
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. pop — soda
  23. band — a music group
  24. stem — a stem cell

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