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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. last — to go on
  4. last — final
  5. pop — soda
  6. tube — the underground
  7. squash — the sport
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. tube — a container
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. pop — music
  17. tear — to rip
  18. capital — money
  19. sharp — clever
  20. capital — a city
  21. pop — to visit
  22. tear — from crying
  23. last — finally
  24. squash — to crush

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