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

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. clip — for paper
  3. clip — to cut
  4. tear — to rip
  5. clip — a video
  6. tear — from crying
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. land — a country
  9. track — a path
  10. press — newspapers
  11. bat — the animal
  12. charge — a price
  13. kid — child
  14. charge — electricity
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. charge — in control
  17. kid — to tease
  18. press — a publisher
  19. press — to push
  20. track — to keep track
  21. tear — from crying
  22. land — ground
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. track — a song

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