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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. hand — in cards
  3. fine — high quality
  4. fine — all right
  5. mate — a partner
  6. clip — to cut
  7. fall — the season
  8. land — ground
  9. tear — to rip
  10. mate — a friend
  11. spell — magic
  12. fall — to drop
  13. fall — to drop
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — from crying
  16. clip — for paper
  17. hand — help
  18. land — to come down
  19. mate — to breed
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. spell — letters
  22. spell — a short time
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. clip — a video

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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