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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: bear · clip · pop · tear · straw · bore · land · lash

  1. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. land — a country
  5. bear — the animal
  6. clip — for paper
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. pop — soda
  9. land — ground
  10. tear — from crying
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. tear — from crying
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. clip — to cut
  15. clip — a video
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. pop — to visit
  18. bore — to drill
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. land — to come down
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. bore — to tire
  23. bear — the animal
  24. tear — to rip

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