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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. sharp — clever
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. capital — money
  5. tube — a container
  6. tear — from crying
  7. cold — an illness
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. tear — from crying
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. safe — a strongbox
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. capital — a city
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. date — the fruit
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. safe — out of danger
  19. cold — not warm
  20. tear — to rip
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. date — on the calendar

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