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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. capital — a city
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. wind — moving air
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. pop — soda
  8. tear — to rip
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. tear — from crying
  11. capital — money
  12. spring — a coil
  13. craft — boats
  14. spring — of water
  15. craft — a skill
  16. pop — to visit
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. wind — moving air
  19. ground — the earth
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. tear — from crying
  22. ground — crushed
  23. spring — the season
  24. ground — a position

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