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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. tear — from crying
  3. clip — to cut
  4. wind — moving air
  5. fine — all right
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. cue — for pool
  9. clip — for paper
  10. cue — a hint
  11. fine — high quality
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. cue — a signal
  15. clip — a video
  16. dip — to sink
  17. bark — to shout
  18. tear — from crying
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. tear — to rip
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. capital — a city
  24. wind — moving air

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