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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. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. When will it ________________ you to start?
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — in cards
  2. clip — a video
  3. tear — from crying
  4. bound — certain
  5. suit — to fit
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. bound — tied together
  9. spring — of water
  10. tear — to rip
  11. spring — a coil
  12. tear — from crying
  13. game — wild animals
  14. spring — the season
  15. bound — obliged
  16. game — a match
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. suit — clothes
  20. scale — size or range
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. clip — for paper
  23. clip — to cut
  24. scale — in music

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