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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. chair — a leader
  3. clip — to cut
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. mate — to breed
  6. tear — to rip
  7. drill — army training
  8. drill — the tool
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. tear — from crying
  12. firm — a company
  13. cold — an illness
  14. drill — a practice
  15. mate — a friend
  16. tear — from crying
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. cold — not warm
  19. stand — to bear
  20. firm — decided
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. mate — a partner
  23. firm — steady
  24. clip — a video

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