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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: arm · prune · capital · tear · deal · wind

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. 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. arm — part of the body
  2. tear — from crying
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. prune — to trim
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. prune — to trim
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. capital — a city
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wind — moving air
  14. tear — to rip
  15. capital — money
  16. deal — to handle
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. 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