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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 seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. race — a contest
  3. season — of the year
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. hand — help
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. clip — a video
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. hand — in cards
  15. season — in sport
  16. pass — a permit
  17. tear — from crying
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. tear — to rip
  21. clip — for paper
  22. race — humankind
  23. race — the arms race
  24. tear — from crying

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