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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. file — a line of people
  5. mine — for digging
  6. court — for sport
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. bank — for money
  9. capital — money
  10. file — a tool
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. file — a document
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. bank — for money
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. hand — in cards
  17. bank — of a river
  18. court — of a king
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — to rip
  21. capital — a city
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. tear — from crying
  24. hand — help

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