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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  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. tear — from crying
  2. capital — money
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. staff — a stick
  8. bass — the fish
  9. tear — from crying
  10. key — the most important part
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. capital — a city
  15. key — for a lock
  16. press — a publisher
  17. staff — employees
  18. key — in music
  19. mine — for digging
  20. staff — employees
  21. press — to push
  22. press — newspapers
  23. bass — low music
  24. tear — to rip

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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