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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. tear — to rip
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. spell — magic
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. stem — to come from
  9. saw — the tool
  10. mine — for digging
  11. tear — from crying
  12. spell — a short time
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. saw — the tool
  16. capital — money
  17. capital — a city
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. ball — a dance
  21. ball — a great time
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. spell — letters

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