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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 116 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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. file — a line of people
  3. pound — a weight
  4. tear — to rip
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. capital — a city
  7. file — a document
  8. mate — a partner
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. saw — the tool
  11. tear — from crying
  12. rush — hurry
  13. cap — a lid
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. cap — a hat
  16. tear — from crying
  17. cap — of ice
  18. capital — money
  19. mate — a friend
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. mate — to breed
  22. saw — the tool
  23. file — a tool
  24. pound — for dogs

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