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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. My mare is ________________ in color.
  24. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. clip — to cut
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. squash — to crush
  5. spell — magic
  6. spell — letters
  7. clip — for paper
  8. squash — the sport
  9. land — a country
  10. tear — from crying
  11. clip — a video
  12. bat — the animal
  13. tear — to rip
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. land — to come down
  16. land — ground
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. spell — a short time
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. bay — a horse colour
  24. vault — a safe

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