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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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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: tear · wound · hide · arm · pop · clip · content · rock

  1. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. tear — from crying
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. pop — music
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. rock — music
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. wound — an injury
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. clip — for paper
  12. rock — a stone
  13. tear — from crying
  14. clip — to cut
  15. content — happy
  16. tear — to rip
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. pop — to visit
  20. content — the amount
  21. wound — an injury
  22. clip — a video
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. pop — soda

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