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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. hand — help
  3. hand — in cards
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. lie — to recline
  7. bear — the animal
  8. march — music
  9. wind — moving air
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. march — the month
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. snap — to click
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. wind — moving air
  19. clip — for paper
  20. march — the month
  21. bear — the animal
  22. clip — a video
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. hide — to keep secret

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