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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: ball · mine · clip · rest · mate · pound · lie · tear

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. mate — to breed
  3. rest — what's left
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. ball — a great time
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. rest — a break
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. clip — for paper
  11. rest — what's left
  12. tear — from crying
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. mine — for digging
  15. ball — a dance
  16. mate — a partner
  17. clip — a video
  18. pound — a weight
  19. tear — to rip
  20. lie — to recline
  21. mate — a friend
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. tear — from crying

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