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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 cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. drill — army training
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. capital — a city
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. drill — the tool
  12. capital — money
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. chair — a leader
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. hand — in cards
  17. drill — a practice
  18. stock — shares
  19. stem — to come from
  20. fork — in a road
  21. hand — help
  22. tear — from crying
  23. tear — to rip
  24. stock — goods

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