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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. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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. spell — a short time
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. swing — in golf
  6. stem — to come from
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. dip — to sink
  9. capital — money
  10. swing — music
  11. capital — a city
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. shower — rain
  15. bear — the animal
  16. spell — magic
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. spell — letters
  19. tear — from crying
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. swing — to play on
  22. tear — to rip
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. shower — to wash

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