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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 cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. When will it ________________ you to start?
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. staff — employees
  3. season — in sport
  4. staff — a stick
  5. cold — not warm
  6. clip — a video
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. tear — from crying
  9. clip — to cut
  10. suit — in cards
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. perch — the fish
  13. clip — for paper
  14. tear — to rip
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. suit — clothes
  18. cold — an illness
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. staff — employees
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. suit — to fit
  24. season — of the year

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