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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. tear — to rip
  4. last — final
  5. clip — a video
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. bulb — for light
  8. last — finally
  9. scale — in music
  10. clip — for paper
  11. tear — from crying
  12. tear — from crying
  13. band — a music group
  14. scale — size or range
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. bulb — for light
  17. band — a ring
  18. clip — to cut

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