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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. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. tear — to rip
  3. cap — a hat
  4. foot — a measure
  5. clip — a video
  6. row — to paddle
  7. mug — a cup
  8. spring — of water
  9. tear — from crying
  10. row — a line
  11. cap — a lid
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. cap — of ice
  14. clip — to cut
  15. spring — a coil
  16. mate — a friend
  17. spring — the season
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. clip — for paper
  21. mate — to breed
  22. mug — a face
  23. tear — from crying
  24. mate — a partner

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