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

Word bank: rest · can · present · clip · fork · tear

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. rest — what's left
  3. can — a tin
  4. clip — for paper
  5. tear — to rip
  6. rest — a break
  7. present — there
  8. clip — a video
  9. tear — from crying
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. can — a tin
  12. clip — to cut
  13. can — to be able to
  14. rest — what's left
  15. fork — in a road
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. present — the time now
  18. present — a gift

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