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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. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. capital — money
  4. spell — letters
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. court — of law
  7. tear — to rip
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. court — of a king
  10. spell — magic
  11. spell — a short time
  12. cap — a lid
  13. tear — from crying
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. stem — to come from
  18. court — for sport
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. cap — a hat
  21. cap — of ice
  22. capital — a city
  23. tear — from crying
  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