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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 would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. toast — bread
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. tear — from crying
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. rush — hurry
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. tear — to rip
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. capital — a city
  12. band — a music group
  13. sharp — clever
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. capital — money
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. band — a ring
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. tear — from crying
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — an injury

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