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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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. squash — the sport
  4. squash — to crush
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. mate — a partner
  7. fall — the season
  8. lean — to bend
  9. last — finally
  10. lean — thin
  11. last — to go on
  12. tear — to rip
  13. fall — to drop
  14. tear — from crying
  15. last — final
  16. mate — a friend
  17. fall — to drop
  18. mate — to breed
  19. capital — money
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. capital — a city
  22. stem — to come from
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. stem — of a plant

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