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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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. cap — of ice
  3. capital — a city
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. cap — a hat
  6. dip — to sink
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. tear — from crying
  9. march — music
  10. march — the month
  11. tear — from crying
  12. march — the month
  13. hand — help
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. hand — in cards
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. tear — to rip
  19. bear — the animal
  20. cap — a lid
  21. capital — money
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. bear — the animal
  24. hand — part of the body

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