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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 120 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: wound · club · tear · capital · land · fine · rash · pop

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. rash — hasty
  3. land — a country
  4. wound — an injury
  5. land — to come down
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. pop — music
  8. club — for golf
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. club — for dancing
  11. capital — money
  12. rash — a series
  13. club — a group
  14. pop — soda
  15. wound — an injury
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — to rip
  18. fine — all right
  19. pop — to visit
  20. fine — high quality
  21. land — ground
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. capital — a city
  24. rash — on the skin

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