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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: bat · capital · drill · safe · rash · fall · fine · tear

  1. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  6. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. tear — from crying
  3. bat — the animal
  4. fall — to drop
  5. safe — a strongbox
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. rash — hasty
  8. tear — to rip
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. tear — from crying
  11. drill — a practice
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. fine — high quality
  14. drill — army training
  15. fall — to drop
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. capital — money
  18. drill — the tool
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. rash — a series
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. fall — the season
  23. capital — a city
  24. fine — a penalty

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