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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 120 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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. tear — from crying
  3. mate — a partner
  4. march — the month
  5. fine — all right
  6. tear — from crying
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. mate — a friend
  9. march — the month
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. capital — money
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. rush — hurry
  14. capital — a city
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wind — moving air
  17. mine — for digging
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. tear — to rip
  21. mate — to breed
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. march — music

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