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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. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. tear — from crying
  5. clip — a video
  6. scale — size or range
  7. clip — for paper
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. band — a music group
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. scale — in music
  13. tear — from crying
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. clip — to cut
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. pound — a weight
  18. band — a ring
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. mine — for digging
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. tear — to rip

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