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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. court — of law
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. roll — a list
  6. saw — the tool
  7. tear — to rip
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — an injury
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. court — for sport
  12. rest — what's left
  13. clip — a video
  14. rest — what's left
  15. saw — the tool
  16. tear — from crying
  17. court — of a king
  18. roll — a cake
  19. clip — to cut
  20. clip — for paper
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. rest — a break
  23. snap — to click
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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