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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 would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  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. rest — a break
  2. clip — for paper
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. band — a music group
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. face — part of the head
  8. tear — to rip
  9. tear — from crying
  10. rest — what's left
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. face — to point toward
  13. band — a ring
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. tear — from crying
  16. rest — what's left
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. bark — to shout
  19. bat — the animal
  20. face — to confront
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. clip — a video
  23. bark — of a tree
  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