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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. capital — a city
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. pop — soda
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. tear — from crying
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. vault — a safe
  11. cold — an illness
  12. pop — to visit
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. cold — not warm
  15. present — a gift
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. capital — money
  19. tear — from crying
  20. present — the time now
  21. present — there
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. pop — music
  24. deal — to handle

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