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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: present · wound · bulb · bat · tear · straw · bore · clip

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. bat — the animal
  5. tear — from crying
  6. bulb — for light
  7. tear — to rip
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. wound — an injury
  10. bore — to drill
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. present — a gift
  13. tear — from crying
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. wound — an injury
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. present — the time now
  19. bulb — for light
  20. bore — to tire
  21. clip — a video
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. clip — to cut
  24. present — there

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