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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 cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. ground — the earth
  3. drill — a practice
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. capital — money
  6. drill — the tool
  7. scale — size or range
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. drill — army training
  10. tear — to rip
  11. capital — a city
  12. ground — crushed
  13. tear — from crying
  14. bark — to shout
  15. ground — a position
  16. present — the time now
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. present — there
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. present — a gift
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. scale — in music
  24. temple — side of the head

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