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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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Word bank
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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: face · tear · wind · last · mug · clip

  1. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. clip — to cut
  3. face — to confront
  4. face — part of the head
  5. last — finally
  6. tear — to rip
  7. mug — a cup
  8. last — to go on
  9. clip — for paper
  10. wind — moving air
  11. last — final
  12. tear — from crying
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. face — to point toward
  15. mug — a face
  16. clip — a video
  17. tear — from crying
  18. wind — moving air

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