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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. march — music
  3. jam — a tight spot
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. wind — moving air
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. pit — a hole
  8. bat — the animal
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. mine — for digging
  11. wind — moving air
  12. capital — a city
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. capital — money
  15. march — the month
  16. jam — in traffic
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. tear — to rip
  19. tear — from crying
  20. march — the month
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. jam — to spread on bread
  23. pit — in a race
  24. tear — from crying

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