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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. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. tear — from crying
  3. bound — certain
  4. clip — a video
  5. shower — rain
  6. ground — crushed
  7. rest — what's left
  8. hand — in cards
  9. fall — to drop
  10. rest — what's left
  11. clip — to cut
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. fall — to drop
  14. ground — the earth
  15. rest — a break
  16. clip — for paper
  17. tear — from crying
  18. shower — to wash
  19. hand — help
  20. fall — the season
  21. ground — a position
  22. tear — to rip
  23. bound — tied together
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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