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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. cell — in biology
  3. rest — what's left
  4. hand — in cards
  5. field — a subject
  6. staff — a stick
  7. clip — a video
  8. current — of water
  9. tear — to rip
  10. field — for sport
  11. rest — a break
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. cell — a phone
  14. current — electric
  15. rest — what's left
  16. current — happening now
  17. staff — employees
  18. field — farmland
  19. tear — from crying
  20. hand — help
  21. clip — for paper
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. clip — to cut
  24. staff — employees

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