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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. wound — an injury
  3. stick — to attach or keep to
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. court — of law
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. clip — a video
  9. hand — in cards
  10. tear — from crying
  11. clip — to cut
  12. fine — high quality
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. court — for sport
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. wake — a trail
  20. tear — to rip
  21. fine — all right
  22. clip — for paper
  23. court — of a king
  24. tear — from crying

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