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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. tear — from crying
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. capital — money
  6. march — the month
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. prune — to trim
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. spell — letters
  11. cell — in biology
  12. snap — to click
  13. capital — a city
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. cell — a phone
  16. club — for dancing
  17. club — a group
  18. spell — magic
  19. march — music
  20. prune — to trim
  21. tear — to rip
  22. march — the month
  23. spell — a short time
  24. club — for golf

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