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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. tear — from crying
  4. tear — from crying
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. tear — to rip
  8. court — for sport
  9. tube — the underground
  10. swing — to play on
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. mine — for digging
  13. swing — in golf
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. tube — a container
  16. lie — to recline
  17. swing — music
  18. court — of a king
  19. clip — to cut
  20. clip — a video
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. court — of law
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. hide — to keep secret

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