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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. clip — to cut
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. mine — for digging
  5. wound — an injury
  6. object — to protest
  7. rest — what's left
  8. tear — from crying
  9. clip — a video
  10. rest — what's left
  11. chip — for betting
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. tear — from crying
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. clip — for paper
  17. rest — a break
  18. object — a thing
  19. wake — a trail
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. object — an aim
  22. chip — to eat
  23. tear — to rip
  24. wound — an injury

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