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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. clip — to cut
  4. tear — to rip
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. fall — the season
  8. fine — all right
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. wound — an injury
  11. tear — from crying
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. fall — to drop
  14. wound — an injury
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. clip — a video
  18. ball — a great time
  19. fall — to drop
  20. perch — the fish
  21. tear — from crying
  22. clip — for paper
  23. fine — high quality
  24. ball — a dance

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