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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. file — a line of people
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. lean — to bend
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. pop — to visit
  7. capital — a city
  8. clip — to cut
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. lean — thin
  11. chair — a leader
  12. clip — a video
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. pop — soda
  15. capital — money
  16. pop — music
  17. clip — for paper
  18. tear — from crying
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. file — a document
  23. file — a tool
  24. tear — to rip

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