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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  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 — to cut
  2. band — a music group
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. tear — from crying
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. saw — the tool
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. saw — the tool
  12. bulb — for light
  13. tear — from crying
  14. season — in sport
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. tear — to rip
  17. band — a ring
  18. scale — size or range
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. season — of the year
  21. scale — in music
  22. bulb — for light
  23. clip — for paper
  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