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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. tear — from crying
  3. spring — of water
  4. bear — the animal
  5. shower — rain
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. pit — a hole
  9. spring — a coil
  10. pit — in a race
  11. clip — to cut
  12. drill — army training
  13. spring — the season
  14. tear — to rip
  15. clip — a video
  16. drill — a practice
  17. bear — the animal
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. drill — the tool
  20. club — a group
  21. shower — to wash
  22. clip — for paper
  23. club — for dancing
  24. club — for golf

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