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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 116 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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. tear — to rip
  3. can — to be able to
  4. spell — a short time
  5. can — a tin
  6. wound — an injury
  7. tear — from crying
  8. spell — magic
  9. clip — a video
  10. clip — to cut
  11. spell — letters
  12. pitch — completely
  13. pit — in a race
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — an illness
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. wound — an injury
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. tear — from crying
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. clip — for paper
  23. pit — a hole
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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