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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. bound — obliged
  3. scale — size or range
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. clip — a video
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. bound — certain
  9. bound — tied together
  10. scale — in music
  11. shower — to wash
  12. swing — to play on
  13. tear — to rip
  14. swing — music
  15. pitch — completely
  16. tear — from crying
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. clip — to cut
  21. swing — in golf
  22. shower — rain
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. clip — for paper

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