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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. clip — a video
  3. press — to push
  4. clip — to cut
  5. wake — a trail
  6. march — music
  7. rest — a break
  8. tear — from crying
  9. clip — for paper
  10. tear — to rip
  11. rest — what's left
  12. press — newspapers
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. chip — for betting
  15. press — a publisher
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. rest — what's left
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. roll — a list
  21. roll — a cake
  22. march — the month
  23. march — the month
  24. chip — to eat

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