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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 116 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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. bound — tied together
  3. bound — obliged
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. present — there
  6. bound — certain
  7. clip — for paper
  8. tear — from crying
  9. ground — a position
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. present — a gift
  12. clip — to cut
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. sharp — clever
  15. clip — a video
  16. ball — a great time
  17. perch — the fish
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. tear — to rip
  20. ball — a dance
  21. tear — from crying
  22. ground — the earth
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. present — the time now

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