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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. tear — from crying
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. spell — magic
  5. sharp — clever
  6. capital — money
  7. cap — of ice
  8. cap — a lid
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. spell — letters
  12. prune — to trim
  13. prune — to trim
  14. fall — to drop
  15. tear — from crying
  16. fall — the season
  17. spell — a short time
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. capital — a city
  21. kick — in football
  22. cap — a hat
  23. fall — to drop
  24. sharp — with an edge

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