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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: mug · row · saw · tear · fall · rule · chest · capital

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. He refilled his coffee ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. chest — of your body
  3. fall — to drop
  4. tear — from crying
  5. saw — the tool
  6. capital — a city
  7. saw — the tool
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. chest — of your body
  10. fall — to drop
  11. row — to paddle
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. rule — government
  15. mug — to rob
  16. chest — a box
  17. capital — money
  18. row — a line
  19. mug — a face
  20. tear — from crying
  21. tear — to rip
  22. fall — the season
  23. rule — a law
  24. mug — a cup

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