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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: cold · capital · perch · tear · dip · ground · cabinet · pound

  1. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. tear — from crying
  4. capital — a city
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. tear — to rip
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. ground — crushed
  12. pound — a weight
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. cold — not warm
  15. dip — to sink
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. ground — a position
  18. capital — money
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. tear — from crying
  21. ground — the earth
  22. perch — the fish
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. cabinet — ministers

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