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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. game — wild animals
  4. game — a match
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. tear — from crying
  7. mine — for digging
  8. clip — a video
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. clip — to cut
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. squash — to crush
  14. shower — rain
  15. clip — for paper
  16. ground — crushed
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. ground — the earth
  19. ground — a position
  20. shower — to wash
  21. tear — to rip
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. squash — the sport

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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