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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. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. pass — a permit
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. capital — a city
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. tear — from crying
  9. bear — the animal
  10. shower — to wash
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. shower — rain
  13. clip — for paper
  14. clip — a video
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. capital — money
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. tear — to rip
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. clip — to cut
  22. bear — the animal
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. coach — a trainer

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