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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  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. tear — from crying
  2. present — there
  3. tear — from crying
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. cold — an illness
  6. perch — the fish
  7. roll — a list
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. present — a gift
  11. clip — a video
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. present — the time now
  15. roll — a cake
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. clip — to cut
  19. plane — a tool
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. tear — to rip
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. cold — not warm
  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