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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  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. clip — to cut
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. fine — all right
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. tear — to rip
  7. tube — a container
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. rush — hurry
  12. fine — high quality
  13. tube — the underground
  14. row — to paddle
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. tear — from crying
  17. march — music
  18. march — the month
  19. row — a line
  20. tear — from crying
  21. march — the month
  22. clip — for paper
  23. mouse — for a computer
  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