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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. spring — of water
  3. tear — from crying
  4. snap — to click
  5. clip — to cut
  6. firm — a company
  7. firm — decided
  8. march — the month
  9. tear — from crying
  10. march — the month
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. clip — for paper
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. spring — a coil
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. mine — for digging
  20. clip — a video
  21. march — music
  22. firm — steady
  23. tear — to rip
  24. spring — the season

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