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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. spell — magic
  4. spell — letters
  5. tear — from crying
  6. face — to confront
  7. tear — from crying
  8. fall — the season
  9. face — part of the head
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. fall — to drop
  12. bound — certain
  13. spell — a short time
  14. bound — tied together
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. fall — to drop
  17. clip — to cut
  18. bound — obliged
  19. face — to point toward
  20. clip — a video
  21. tear — to rip
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wind — moving air
  24. stand — to bear

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