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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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. sharp — exactly
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. sharp — clever
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. prune — to trim
  8. drill — the tool
  9. bass — low music
  10. tube — the underground
  11. tube — a container
  12. tear — to rip
  13. bass — the fish
  14. clip — for paper
  15. firm — a company
  16. drill — a practice
  17. prune — to trim
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. clip — to cut
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. drill — army training
  22. firm — steady
  23. firm — decided
  24. clip — a video

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