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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: mine · fine · tear · snap · track · wind · clip · can

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. clip — to cut
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. fine — all right
  6. track — to keep track
  7. clip — a video
  8. mine — for digging
  9. clip — for paper
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. can — to be able to
  12. wind — moving air
  13. tear — to rip
  14. track — a song
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. wind — moving air
  18. fine — high quality
  19. track — a path
  20. can — a tin
  21. tear — from crying
  22. tear — from crying
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. can — a tin

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