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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 want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. clip — for paper
  3. tear — from crying
  4. wound — an injury
  5. swing — in golf
  6. bulb — for light
  7. tube — the underground
  8. bulb — for light
  9. lean — to bend
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. perch — the fish
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. tear — to rip
  17. clip — to cut
  18. clip — a video
  19. lean — thin
  20. swing — music
  21. swing — to play on
  22. wound — an injury
  23. tear — from crying
  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