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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. present — there
  3. tear — from crying
  4. capital — money
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. spring — a coil
  7. rash — a series
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. present — a gift
  10. fork — in a road
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. net — after costs
  13. tear — to rip
  14. net — in sport
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. tear — from crying
  17. capital — a city
  18. wake — a trail
  19. present — the time now
  20. spring — of water
  21. rash — hasty
  22. net — for catching
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. spring — the season

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