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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: rash · bark · kid · capital · tear · fine · clip · craft

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. tear — from crying
  3. rash — a series
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. kid — child
  6. capital — money
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. craft — a skill
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. tear — to rip
  13. capital — a city
  14. fine — high quality
  15. clip — a video
  16. kid — to tease
  17. clip — to cut
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. fine — all right
  21. craft — boats
  22. rash — hasty
  23. clip — for paper
  24. bark — to shout

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