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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 didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. tear — from crying
  3. spell — a short time
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. spell — magic
  6. capital — money
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. rest — what's left
  10. tear — to rip
  11. ground — a position
  12. tear — from crying
  13. degree — an amount
  14. degree — from a university
  15. dip — to sink
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. ground — crushed
  18. rest — what's left
  19. spell — letters
  20. rest — a break
  21. ground — the earth
  22. capital — a city
  23. wake — a trail
  24. degree — temperature

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