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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. spring — of water
  3. scale — in music
  4. sharp — clever
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. clip — for paper
  7. tear — from crying
  8. spring — a coil
  9. scale — size or range
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. tear — to rip
  12. spring — the season
  13. bulb — for light
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. bulb — for light
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. clip — a video
  22. clip — to cut
  23. chair — a leader
  24. sharp — exactly

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