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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: clip · rule · band · spring · tear · bear · tube · face

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  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. spring — the season
  2. tear — from crying
  3. clip — a video
  4. tear — from crying
  5. band — a ring
  6. clip — for paper
  7. rule — a law
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. bear — the animal
  10. spring — of water
  11. face — to point toward
  12. face — part of the head
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. tube — a container
  15. bear — the animal
  16. tear — to rip
  17. tube — the underground
  18. face — to confront
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. rule — government
  22. spring — a coil
  23. band — a music group
  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