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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. tear — to rip
  3. tear — from crying
  4. tear — from crying
  5. swing — to play on
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. clip — to cut
  12. sharp — clever
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. band — a music group
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. swing — in golf
  18. clip — a video
  19. swing — music
  20. clip — for paper
  21. season — of the year
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. season — in sport
  24. band — a ring

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