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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. tear — from crying
  3. spell — magic
  4. lean — thin
  5. fall — to drop
  6. lean — to bend
  7. fall — to drop
  8. spell — a short time
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. tear — to rip
  13. mine — for digging
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. court — of a king
  16. court — for sport
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. court — of law
  19. tear — from crying
  20. spell — letters
  21. capital — money
  22. fall — the season
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. capital — a city

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