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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. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — of the leg
  2. bound — certain
  3. clip — to cut
  4. wind — moving air
  5. clip — a video
  6. tear — from crying
  7. game — a match
  8. march — the month
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. board — a committee
  11. tear — to rip
  12. board — to get on
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. game — wild animals
  15. tear — from crying
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. march — the month
  18. bound — obliged
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. wind — moving air
  21. march — music
  22. clip — for paper
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. bound — tied together

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