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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 120 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: wake · ground · wind · chest · snap · tear · capital · bear

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. ground — the earth
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. chest — of your body
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. capital — money
  7. capital — a city
  8. snap — to click
  9. ground — crushed
  10. chest — of your body
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. tear — to rip
  13. ground — a position
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. wind — moving air
  17. bear — the animal
  18. tear — from crying
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. bear — the animal
  21. chest — a box
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wake — a trail

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