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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. saw — the tool
  4. capital — a city
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. saw — the tool
  7. face — to point toward
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. craft — a skill
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. snap — to click
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. capital — money
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. craft — boats
  18. face — to confront
  19. shower — to wash
  20. face — part of the head
  21. tear — from crying
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. tear — to rip
  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