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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. tear — from crying
  3. fine — high quality
  4. tear — from crying
  5. season — of the year
  6. tear — to rip
  7. clip — for paper
  8. game — a match
  9. mine — for digging
  10. bound — tied together
  11. bound — certain
  12. season — in sport
  13. bound — obliged
  14. fine — all right
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. clip — a video
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. game — wild animals
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. calf — a young animal

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