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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 seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. pop — to visit
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. clip — for paper
  5. race — a contest
  6. clip — a video
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. spring — a coil
  10. race — the arms race
  11. pop — music
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. pop — soda
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. tear — from crying
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. spring — the season
  19. race — humankind
  20. spring — of water
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. tear — from crying
  24. tear — to rip

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