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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 116 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: field · pound · file · dip · clip · tear · last · row

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. clip — to cut
  3. clip — for paper
  4. dip — to sink
  5. row — a line
  6. row — to paddle
  7. file — a document
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. tear — from crying
  10. file — a line of people
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. last — final
  13. clip — a video
  14. tear — from crying
  15. last — to go on
  16. file — a tool
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. field — a subject
  19. field — farmland
  20. last — finally
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. pound — a weight
  24. field — for sport

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