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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 116 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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  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 — from crying
  2. clip — a video
  3. band — a ring
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. tear — to rip
  6. spring — the season
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. press — newspapers
  10. band — a music group
  11. press — to push
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. row — to paddle
  15. spring — of water
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. press — a publisher
  18. row — a line
  19. clip — for paper
  20. clip — to cut
  21. pound — a weight
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. spring — a coil
  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