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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. tear — from crying
  3. pop — to visit
  4. fine — all right
  5. land — ground
  6. tear — to rip
  7. clip — a video
  8. clip — to cut
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. capital — a city
  11. mate — to breed
  12. tear — from crying
  13. prune — to trim
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. land — a country
  16. fine — high quality
  17. prune — to trim
  18. capital — money
  19. land — to come down
  20. pop — soda
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. mate — a partner
  23. clip — for paper
  24. pop — music

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