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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 · spell · mark · press · wave · clip · game · land

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. land — ground
  3. land — to come down
  4. clip — to cut
  5. game — a match
  6. clip — for paper
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. land — a country
  9. mark — a trace
  10. mark — a grade
  11. tear — from crying
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. game — wild animals
  14. spell — magic
  15. press — a publisher
  16. clip — a video
  17. tear — from crying
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. press — to push
  20. spell — letters
  21. spell — a short time
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. press — newspapers

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