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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. tear — to rip
  3. ball — a great time
  4. scale — in music
  5. scale — size or range
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. chest — of your body
  8. clip — for paper
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. ball — a dance
  12. clip — a video
  13. clip — to cut
  14. bulb — for light
  15. bulb — for light
  16. tube — the underground
  17. chest — a box
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — an injury
  20. tear — from crying
  21. chest — of your body
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. tube — a container

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