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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  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. chair — to sit on
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. tear — from crying
  4. clip — to cut
  5. toast — bread
  6. present — a gift
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. lean — to bend
  10. root — the cause
  11. tear — to rip
  12. present — the time now
  13. present — there
  14. lean — thin
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. tear — from crying
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. toast — the most admired
  19. clip — for paper
  20. root — of a plant
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. chair — a leader
  23. root — of a word
  24. clip — a video

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