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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. tear — from crying
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. squash — the sport
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. capital — a city
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. wind — moving air
  10. net — for catching
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. content — the amount
  13. net — in sport
  14. mark — a grade
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. wind — moving air
  17. squash — to crush
  18. content — happy
  19. net — after costs
  20. capital — money
  21. mark — a trace
  22. tear — from crying
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. tear — to rip

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