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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 120 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 black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. bear — the animal
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. pitch — completely
  5. capital — a city
  6. clip — to cut
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. march — the month
  9. club — for golf
  10. club — for dancing
  11. tear — to rip
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. march — music
  16. clip — a video
  17. club — a group
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. march — the month
  20. capital — money
  21. clip — for paper
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. tear — from crying
  24. bear — the animal

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