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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 116 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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. net — after costs
  4. tear — from crying
  5. hand — in cards
  6. cell — in biology
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. hand — help
  10. net — in sport
  11. face — part of the head
  12. net — for catching
  13. key — for a lock
  14. key — the most important part
  15. face — to confront
  16. tear — to rip
  17. capital — a city
  18. perch — the fish
  19. cell — a phone
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. capital — money
  22. key — in music
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. face — to point toward

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