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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cold · wound · tear · craft · capital · bank

  1. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. tear — to rip
  3. wound — an injury
  4. bank — of a river
  5. craft — boats
  6. capital — a city
  7. cold — an illness
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. capital — money
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. wound — an injury
  12. bank — for money
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. tear — from crying
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. tear — from crying
  17. cold — not warm
  18. craft — a skill

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