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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 120 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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. capital — a city
  3. drill — the tool
  4. cue — for pool
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. tear — to rip
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. cue — a hint
  9. tube — a container
  10. cue — a signal
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wind — moving air
  14. capital — money
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. drill — a practice
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. drill — army training
  19. tube — the underground
  20. tear — from crying
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. bark — to shout
  23. sharp — clever
  24. tube — in a tire

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