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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. tear — to rip
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. present — the time now
  5. clip — for paper
  6. tear — from crying
  7. present — a gift
  8. band — a ring
  9. fall — to drop
  10. clip — to cut
  11. ball — a great time
  12. fall — the season
  13. ball — a dance
  14. clip — a video
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. band — a music group
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. present — there
  21. fall — to drop
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. cabinet — ministers

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