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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  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. fine — all right
  2. tear — from crying
  3. present — a gift
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. clip — a video
  6. present — the time now
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. shower — to wash
  9. tear — to rip
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. present — there
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. fine — high quality
  17. clip — to cut
  18. stem — to come from
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. clip — for paper
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. shower — rain
  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