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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. tear — from crying
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. ground — crushed
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. cap — of ice
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. sharp — clever
  11. clip — for paper
  12. ground — the earth
  13. cap — a hat
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. dip — to sink
  18. snap — to click
  19. clip — to cut
  20. tear — to rip
  21. ground — a position
  22. clip — a video
  23. tear — from crying
  24. dip — a sauce

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