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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. tear — from crying
  3. spell — a short time
  4. tear — from crying
  5. march — the month
  6. sharp — clever
  7. clip — to cut
  8. tear — to rip
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. land — to come down
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. chip — for betting
  13. clip — a video
  14. spell — magic
  15. march — the month
  16. march — music
  17. land — a country
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. chip — to eat
  20. land — ground
  21. clip — for paper
  22. spell — letters
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. chip — in a computer

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