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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 hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. tear — from crying
  3. safe — a strongbox
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. kick — in football
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. rash — a series
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. clip — a video
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. tear — to rip
  13. tear — from crying
  14. rash — hasty
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. clip — for paper
  18. capital — a city
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. wind — moving air
  22. capital — money
  23. clip — to cut
  24. safe — out of danger

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