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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 116 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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. squash — the sport
  3. tear — from crying
  4. tear — to rip
  5. clip — for paper
  6. clip — to cut
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. clip — a video
  9. lie — to recline
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. capital — a city
  14. tear — from crying
  15. kid — child
  16. squash — to crush
  17. mug — a cup
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. mug — a face
  20. spell — a short time
  21. capital — money
  22. mug — to rob
  23. spell — magic
  24. kid — to tease

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