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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 can't ________________ this cold.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. stand — to bear
  3. clip — to cut
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. cap — a hat
  6. cap — a lid
  7. spring — of water
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. march — the month
  11. march — music
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. tear — to rip
  15. spring — the season
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — from crying
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. march — the month
  20. spring — a coil
  21. rash — hasty
  22. clip — a video
  23. rash — a series
  24. cap — of ice

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