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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. clip — for paper
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. capital — a city
  5. court — for sport
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. tear — to rip
  8. staff — employees
  9. clip — a video
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. capital — money
  12. shower — rain
  13. staff — employees
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. court — of a king
  16. tear — from crying
  17. court — of law
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. craft — boats
  20. clip — to cut
  21. craft — a skill
  22. staff — a stick
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. tear — from crying

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