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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  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. clip — for paper
  2. tear — to rip
  3. spring — the season
  4. mark — a grade
  5. kick — in football
  6. mate — to breed
  7. game — a match
  8. clip — a video
  9. mate — a friend
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. drill — the tool
  13. clip — to cut
  14. game — wild animals
  15. spring — a coil
  16. drill — a practice
  17. spring — of water
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. tear — from crying
  20. mark — a trace
  21. mate — a partner
  22. drill — army training
  23. game — a kind of play
  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