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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 120 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: spell · mate · clip · pound · bear · tear

  1. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. mate — a partner
  3. bear — the animal
  4. clip — to cut
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. mate — to breed
  8. spell — a short time
  9. bear — the animal
  10. clip — a video
  11. mate — a friend
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. pound — a weight
  14. tear — from crying
  15. clip — for paper
  16. tear — from crying
  17. spell — letters
  18. tear — to rip

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