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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: capital · drill · tear · sharp · squash · cell · ground · season

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. tear — from crying
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. drill — army training
  7. ground — a position
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. squash — the sport
  10. ground — crushed
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. drill — a practice
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. cell — in biology
  15. season — of the year
  16. ground — the earth
  17. season — in sport
  18. capital — money
  19. tear — to rip
  20. drill — the tool
  21. capital — a city
  22. cell — a phone
  23. tear — from crying
  24. squash — to crush

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