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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. chip — to eat
  3. mark — a grade
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. tear — from crying
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. clip — a video
  8. file — a line of people
  9. prune — to trim
  10. mine — for digging
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. snap — to click
  14. mark — a trace
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. tear — from crying
  17. chip — for betting
  18. clip — for paper
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. file — a document
  21. prune — to trim
  22. file — a tool
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. clip — to cut

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