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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 120 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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. season — of the year
  3. mate — a friend
  4. last — finally
  5. fine — all right
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. clip — for paper
  8. file — a tool
  9. last — to go on
  10. craft — boats
  11. file — a line of people
  12. clip — a video
  13. mate — a partner
  14. last — final
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. craft — a skill
  17. clip — to cut
  18. fine — high quality
  19. file — a document
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. tear — from crying
  22. tear — from crying
  23. season — in sport
  24. mate — to breed

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