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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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468
Word bank
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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. capital — a city
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. cell — a phone
  8. wind — moving air
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. tear — from crying
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. pitch — completely
  14. pop — to visit
  15. wind — moving air
  16. cell — in biology
  17. capital — money
  18. tear — to rip
  19. date — the fruit
  20. tear — from crying
  21. pop — music
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. leaves — to go away

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