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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. fall — to drop
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. tear — to rip
  7. wound — an injury
  8. clip — a video
  9. tear — from crying
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. club — for golf
  12. fall — the season
  13. club — for dancing
  14. vault — a safe
  15. fall — to drop
  16. perch — the fish
  17. wound — an injury
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. club — a group
  21. wind — moving air
  22. tear — from crying
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. clip — to cut

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