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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 116 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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. rash — a series
  3. swing — music
  4. rash — hasty
  5. clip — for paper
  6. cell — a phone
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. race — a contest
  10. race — humankind
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. clip — a video
  13. tear — from crying
  14. race — the arms race
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. swing — in golf
  17. swing — to play on
  18. row — a line
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. cell — in biology
  21. clip — to cut
  22. tear — from crying
  23. perch — the fish
  24. row — to paddle

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