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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 cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. bore — to tire
  3. pop — to visit
  4. spell — letters
  5. last — final
  6. clip — to cut
  7. last — to go on
  8. bore — to drill
  9. tear — to rip
  10. ground — a position
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. mate — a friend
  13. mate — a partner
  14. spell — magic
  15. ground — the earth
  16. spell — a short time
  17. pop — soda
  18. tear — from crying
  19. last — finally
  20. clip — for paper
  21. pop — music
  22. clip — a video
  23. ground — crushed
  24. mate — to breed

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