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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. cap — of ice
  3. tear — from crying
  4. toast — bread
  5. tear — from crying
  6. cap — a hat
  7. wound — an injury
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. season — of the year
  10. cap — a lid
  11. ground — the earth
  12. ground — crushed
  13. clip — to cut
  14. tear — to rip
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. clip — for paper
  18. clip — a video
  19. deal — to handle
  20. ground — a position
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. toast — a drink to someone
  24. wound — an injury

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