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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 is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. stand — to bear
  3. net — for catching
  4. clip — to cut
  5. saw — the tool
  6. tear — from crying
  7. clip — a video
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. spring — a coil
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. saw — the tool
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. spring — of water
  16. clip — for paper
  17. spring — the season
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. net — in sport
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. net — after costs
  24. tear — from crying

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