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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 124 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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. tear — to rip
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. object — a thing
  6. season — in sport
  7. roll — a list
  8. game — a match
  9. object — an aim
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. season — of the year
  12. pound — a weight
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. clip — a video
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. tear — from crying
  17. roll — a cake
  18. clip — to cut
  19. clip — for paper
  20. object — to protest
  21. tear — from crying
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. game — wild animals

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