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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. tear — from crying
  5. kid — to tease
  6. ground — the earth
  7. jam — a tight spot
  8. ground — a position
  9. jam — to spread on bread
  10. ground — crushed
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. root — of a word
  13. bat — the animal
  14. kid — child
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. jam — in traffic
  17. root — of a plant
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. tear — from crying
  21. tear — to rip
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. capital — a city
  24. root — the cause

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