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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. rush — hurry
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. tear — from crying
  5. clip — a video
  6. chest — of your body
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. chest — of your body
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. tear — to rip
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. pound — a weight
  15. sharp — clever
  16. tear — from crying
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. chest — a box
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. clip — to cut
  23. pitch — completely
  24. mouse — for 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