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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. clip — a video
  3. club — for dancing
  4. staff — employees
  5. bound — tied together
  6. land — ground
  7. tear — from crying
  8. staff — employees
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. bound — obliged
  11. game — wild animals
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. staff — a stick
  14. clip — for paper
  15. bound — certain
  16. game — a match
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. tear — to rip
  19. club — a group
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. clip — to cut
  22. land — a country
  23. land — to come down
  24. club — for golf

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