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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. tear — to rip
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. row — to paddle
  5. row — a line
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. snap — to click
  8. clip — for paper
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. tear — from crying
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. rock — a stone
  15. tear — from crying
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. ball — a great time
  18. tube — the underground
  19. ball — a dance
  20. tube — a container
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. clip — a video
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. clip — to cut

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