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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  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. ground — crushed
  2. ground — the earth
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. capital — money
  5. tear — to rip
  6. spring — a coil
  7. land — a country
  8. ground — a position
  9. capital — a city
  10. mug — a face
  11. wind — moving air
  12. spring — the season
  13. spring — of water
  14. land — to come down
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. wind — moving air
  17. tear — from crying
  18. mug — a cup
  19. land — ground
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. mug — to rob
  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