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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. clip — to cut
  3. rest — what's left
  4. last — finally
  5. rest — a break
  6. clip — a video
  7. present — a gift
  8. tear — from crying
  9. tear — from crying
  10. tear — to rip
  11. wind — moving air
  12. last — final
  13. clip — for paper
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. last — to go on
  16. wind — moving air
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. rest — what's left
  19. drill — the tool
  20. present — there
  21. game — a match
  22. game — wild animals
  23. drill — army training
  24. drill — a practice

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