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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. tear — from crying
  3. object — to protest
  4. object — an aim
  5. wake — a trail
  6. craft — boats
  7. craft — a skill
  8. clip — for paper
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. march — the month
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. tear — from crying
  13. object — a thing
  14. clip — to cut
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. spring — a coil
  18. clip — a video
  19. march — the month
  20. tear — to rip
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. spring — of water
  23. march — music
  24. spring — the season

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