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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: key · row · sharp · lean · cell · capital · plane · tear

  1. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. tear — from crying
  3. cell — a phone
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. capital — a city
  7. capital — money
  8. sharp — clever
  9. key — for a lock
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. key — in music
  12. lean — to bend
  13. key — the most important part
  14. cell — in biology
  15. lean — thin
  16. row — a line
  17. plane — a tool
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. tear — to rip
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. tear — from crying
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. lean — to rest against

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