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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. hand — help
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. clip — a video
  6. hand — in cards
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. clip — for paper
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. land — to come down
  11. stand — to bear
  12. scale — size or range
  13. wound — an injury
  14. land — a country
  15. present — a gift
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. present — there
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. scale — in music
  22. wound — an injury
  23. present — the time now
  24. land — ground

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