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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: sharp · root · capital · court · chest · tear · lean · row

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. court — of law
  3. tear — to rip
  4. sharp — clever
  5. chest — a box
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. chest — of your body
  10. court — for sport
  11. root — of a plant
  12. root — of a word
  13. court — of a king
  14. capital — a city
  15. row — to paddle
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. lean — to bend
  18. tear — from crying
  19. lean — thin
  20. root — the cause
  21. chest — of your body
  22. tear — from crying
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. capital — money

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