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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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. tear — to rip
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. wind — moving air
  5. tear — from crying
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. march — music
  8. wind — moving air
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. capital — a city
  12. wound — an injury
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. tear — from crying
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. capital — money
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. sharp — clever
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. march — the month

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