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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: wind · hand · perch · safe · capital · track · tear · mate

  1. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — a strongbox
  2. tear — to rip
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. tear — from crying
  6. wind — moving air
  7. hand — help
  8. tear — from crying
  9. capital — money
  10. mate — a partner
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. perch — the fish
  13. track — to keep track
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. wind — moving air
  16. track — a song
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. hand — in cards
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. mate — a friend
  21. capital — a city
  22. mate — to breed
  23. track — a path
  24. capital — a big letter

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