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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. cold — an illness
  3. tear — to rip
  4. lean — to bend
  5. craft — boats
  6. craft — a skill
  7. tear — from crying
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. vault — a safe
  12. clip — a video
  13. ruler — a monarch
  14. tear — from crying
  15. foot — a measure
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. lean — thin
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. cold — not warm
  20. clip — for paper
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. ruler — for measuring

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