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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: sharp · capital · tear · spring · chair · ruler · bat · content

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. bat — the animal
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. capital — a city
  5. tear — to rip
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. sharp — clever
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. tear — from crying
  12. spring — of water
  13. spring — a coil
  14. content — happy
  15. ruler — a monarch
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. capital — money
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. chair — a leader
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. content — the amount
  23. spring — the season
  24. chair — a professorship

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