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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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Word bank
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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: mate · capital · tear · pop · racket · bowl

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. pop — to visit
  6. pop — music
  7. capital — money
  8. mate — a partner
  9. tear — from crying
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. mate — a friend
  12. tear — to rip
  13. mate — to breed
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. capital — a city
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. pop — soda

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