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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: pit · club · tear · sharp · capital · bulb · cold · foot

  1. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. foot — part of the body
  2. club — for dancing
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. capital — a city
  6. tear — to rip
  7. tear — from crying
  8. club — a group
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. tear — from crying
  12. foot — a measure
  13. cold — not warm
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. club — for golf
  16. capital — money
  17. sharp — clever
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. bulb — for light
  20. pit — a hole
  21. cold — an illness
  22. bulb — for light
  23. pit — in a race
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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