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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 got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. capital — money
  4. hand — help
  5. tear — from crying
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. last — to go on
  8. wound — an injury
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. track — a song
  12. tear — from crying
  13. row — to paddle
  14. last — finally
  15. wound — an injury
  16. track — to keep track
  17. capital — a city
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. last — final
  20. track — a path
  21. tear — to rip
  22. row — a line
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. capital — a big letter

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