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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. rock — music
  3. bound — tied together
  4. last — final
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. shower — rain
  7. last — finally
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. clip — for paper
  13. tear — from crying
  14. bound — obliged
  15. clip — a video
  16. tear — to rip
  17. bulb — for light
  18. tear — from crying
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. rock — a stone
  21. clip — to cut
  22. last — to go on
  23. bulb — for light
  24. bound — certain

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