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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  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. tear — from crying
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. tear — to rip
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. clip — for paper
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. track — a song
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. tear — from crying
  12. cold — an illness
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. clip — to cut
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. plane — a tool
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. wound — an injury
  19. track — a path
  20. cold — not warm
  21. wound — an injury
  22. track — to keep track
  23. ruler — for measuring
  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