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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. court — of a king
  3. cap — a lid
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. cap — a hat
  6. pop — to visit
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. capital — a city
  9. bass — low music
  10. pop — music
  11. wind — moving air
  12. pop — soda
  13. root — the cause
  14. wind — moving air
  15. root — of a word
  16. capital — money
  17. tear — from crying
  18. court — of law
  19. court — for sport
  20. root — of a plant
  21. tear — to rip
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. cap — of ice
  24. bass — the fish

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