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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. When will it ________________ you to start?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. tear — to rip
  3. mate — a partner
  4. tear — from crying
  5. bat — the animal
  6. suit — in cards
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. last — to go on
  9. tear — from crying
  10. suit — to fit
  11. clip — to cut
  12. mate — a friend
  13. perch — the fish
  14. mate — to breed
  15. clip — for paper
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. last — final
  20. clip — a video
  21. suit — clothes
  22. last — finally
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. wind — moving air

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