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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 116 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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. degree — temperature
  4. present — there
  5. perch — the fish
  6. capital — money
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. capital — a city
  10. present — a gift
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. tear — to rip
  13. march — the month
  14. present — the time now
  15. degree — an amount
  16. race — the arms race
  17. race — humankind
  18. tear — from crying
  19. degree — from a university
  20. race — a contest
  21. march — the month
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. march — music
  24. straw — a straw man

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