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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 cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. track — to keep track
  3. shower — rain
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. shower — to wash
  7. bark — to shout
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. mate — a friend
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. tear — to rip
  13. lie — to recline
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. clip — to cut
  17. mate — to breed
  18. clip — for paper
  19. tear — from crying
  20. mate — a partner
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. track — a song
  23. track — a path
  24. clip — a video

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