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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. spell — magic
  3. tear — from crying
  4. fine — high quality
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. spell — a short time
  8. pass — a permit
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. fine — all right
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. race — humankind
  13. clip — for paper
  14. tear — to rip
  15. prune — to trim
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. tear — from crying
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. race — a contest
  20. prune — to trim
  21. pass — to succeed
  22. race — the arms race
  23. clip — to cut
  24. clip — a video

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