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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: tear · clip · straw · march · bear · cap

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. clip — a video
  3. clip — to cut
  4. march — music
  5. tear — from crying
  6. march — the month
  7. cap — a lid
  8. cap — of ice
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. bear — the animal
  11. clip — for paper
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. cap — a hat
  14. tear — from crying
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. march — the month
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. bear — the animal

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