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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 120 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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. tear — from crying
  4. prune — to trim
  5. fork — in a road
  6. lie — to recline
  7. band — a ring
  8. file — a line of people
  9. prune — to trim
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. plane — a tool
  15. tear — to rip
  16. file — a document
  17. clip — a video
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. file — a tool
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. band — a music group
  22. tear — from crying
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. clip — to cut

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