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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. last — finally
  3. drill — the tool
  4. drill — army training
  5. last — to go on
  6. hand — help
  7. tube — the underground
  8. cap — of ice
  9. tear — from crying
  10. last — final
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. tear — to rip
  13. capital — money
  14. ground — a position
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. cap — a lid
  17. drill — a practice
  18. ground — the earth
  19. hand — in cards
  20. capital — a city
  21. tube — a container
  22. tear — from crying
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. cap — a hat

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