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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. face — to confront
  3. bear — the animal
  4. tear — from crying
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. tear — to rip
  9. clip — for paper
  10. fine — all right
  11. clip — to cut
  12. clip — a video
  13. present — the time now
  14. present — there
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. cold — an illness
  18. fine — high quality
  19. bear — the animal
  20. tear — from crying
  21. face — to point toward
  22. face — part of the head
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. bear — to put up with

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