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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. object — to protest
  3. capital — a city
  4. tear — to rip
  5. object — a thing
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. chest — a box
  8. chest — of your body
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. swing — to play on
  11. lie — to recline
  12. swing — in golf
  13. game — wild animals
  14. tear — from crying
  15. swing — music
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. game — a match
  19. chest — of your body
  20. object — an aim
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. tear — from crying

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