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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. mark — a grade
  5. tear — to rip
  6. clip — a video
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. mark — a trace
  12. tear — from crying
  13. stand — to bear
  14. spring — of water
  15. spring — the season
  16. spring — a coil
  17. clip — to cut
  18. squash — the sport
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. squash — to crush
  21. lean — thin
  22. lean — to bend
  23. tear — from crying
  24. fork — in a road

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