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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. saw — the tool
  3. rush — hurry
  4. tear — from crying
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. clip — to cut
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. cold — an illness
  9. swing — in golf
  10. cold — not warm
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. saw — the tool
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. swing — music
  18. clip — for paper
  19. clip — a video
  20. tear — from crying
  21. perch — the fish
  22. swing — to play on
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. rush — a thrill

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