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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 116 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. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. court — of law
  4. capital — money
  5. tear — to rip
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. wind — moving air
  10. capital — a city
  11. ground — crushed
  12. dip — to sink
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. rush — hurry
  16. court — of a king
  17. ground — a position
  18. ground — the earth
  19. court — for sport
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. tear — from crying
  22. wind — moving air
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. tear — from crying

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