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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. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. march — the month
  3. tear — from crying
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. jam — in traffic
  7. degree — from a university
  8. degree — temperature
  9. tube — a container
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. degree — an amount
  12. clip — to cut
  13. clip — for paper
  14. craft — a skill
  15. tear — to rip
  16. march — music
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. march — the month
  19. lie — to recline
  20. clip — a video
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. craft — boats
  23. tear — from crying
  24. tube — the underground

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