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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. fall — the season
  3. capital — money
  4. wound — an injury
  5. tear — from crying
  6. rush — hurry
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. capital — a city
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. tear — to rip
  12. fall — to drop
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. fall — to drop
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. wound — an injury
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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