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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. cap — a lid
  3. content — the amount
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. pitch — completely
  6. tear — from crying
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. tear — to rip
  9. cap — of ice
  10. stem — to come from
  11. sharp — clever
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. cap — a hat
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. capital — a city
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. content — happy
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. capital — money

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