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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. face — part of the head
  3. spring — a coil
  4. fall — to drop
  5. clip — for paper
  6. face — to point toward
  7. bank — for money
  8. spring — the season
  9. spring — of water
  10. fall — to drop
  11. fall — the season
  12. clip — to cut
  13. kick — in football
  14. ground — crushed
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. tear — from crying
  17. clip — a video
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. ground — a position
  20. ground — the earth
  21. bank — for money
  22. face — to confront
  23. tear — to rip
  24. bank — of a river

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