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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. present — the time now
  3. tear — from crying
  4. bass — the fish
  5. present — a gift
  6. bass — low music
  7. rash — hasty
  8. tear — to rip
  9. drill — a practice
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. hand — help
  12. drill — army training
  13. hand — in cards
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. present — there
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. capital — money
  19. drill — the tool
  20. tear — from crying
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. snap — to click
  24. rash — a series

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