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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 · row · racket · tear · press · bark · pitcher · last

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. last — final
  3. row — to paddle
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. press — to push
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. row — a line
  8. last — to go on
  9. press — a publisher
  10. capital — a city
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. tear — from crying
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. capital — money
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. bark — to shout
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. last — finally
  23. press — newspapers
  24. tear — from crying

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