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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. clip — to cut
  3. craft — a skill
  4. kick — in football
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. tear — to rip
  7. tear — from crying
  8. spring — a coil
  9. pit — a hole
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. tear — from crying
  12. craft — boats
  13. pit — in a race
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. spring — the season
  17. clip — a video
  18. prune — to trim
  19. prune — to trim
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. clip — for paper
  24. spring — of water

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