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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. chest — a box
  3. clip — to cut
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. pound — a weight
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. capital — a city
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. clip — a video
  10. board — a committee
  11. tear — from crying
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. capital — money
  14. board — to get on
  15. bat — the animal
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. chest — of your body
  18. clip — for paper
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. chest — of your body
  21. tear — to rip
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. stem — to come from
  24. pound — to hit hard

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