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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. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. tear — from crying
  3. deal — to handle
  4. capital — a city
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. tear — to rip
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. tear — from crying
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. band — a music group
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. lean — thin
  16. capital — money
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. lean — to bend
  19. hand — in cards
  20. band — a ring
  21. hand — help
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. stem — to come from

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