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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 116 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 haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. lie — to recline
  4. bank — for money
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. tear — from crying
  7. bank — of a river
  8. spring — a coil
  9. clip — a video
  10. prune — to trim
  11. tear — from crying
  12. bank — for money
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. spring — the season
  15. tear — to rip
  16. prune — to trim
  17. march — the month
  18. march — the month
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. march — music
  21. clip — for paper
  22. spring — of water
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. racket — for tennis

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