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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. bear — the animal
  3. clip — to cut
  4. bear — the animal
  5. rest — what's left
  6. wound — an injury
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. tear — from crying
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. wind — moving air
  11. clip — a video
  12. fall — to drop
  13. stand — to bear
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. fall — the season
  16. wind — moving air
  17. tear — from crying
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. rest — what's left
  20. wound — an injury
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. tear — to rip
  23. rest — a break
  24. clip — for paper

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