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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: wound · tear · rest · drill · clip · land · cue · lie

  1. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. cue — for pool
  4. rest — what's left
  5. tear — from crying
  6. drill — a practice
  7. lie — to recline
  8. land — ground
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. wound — an injury
  11. rest — a break
  12. land — a country
  13. land — to come down
  14. cue — a signal
  15. clip — for paper
  16. tear — to rip
  17. rest — what's left
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. clip — a video
  20. tear — from crying
  21. drill — the tool
  22. drill — army training
  23. wound — an injury
  24. clip — to cut

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