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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. tear — from crying
  3. rash — hasty
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. net — for catching
  9. rash — a series
  10. lean — thin
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. fork — in a road
  13. lean — to bend
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. net — after costs
  16. tear — to rip
  17. game — wild animals
  18. tear — from crying
  19. net — in sport
  20. capital — money
  21. capital — a city
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. game — a match
  24. lean — to rest against

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