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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 120 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: clip · tube · tear · mouse · snap · chest · wound · stand

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. tear — from crying
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. clip — a video
  6. tear — to rip
  7. chest — of your body
  8. clip — to cut
  9. snap — to click
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. wound — an injury
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. stand — to bear
  17. tear — from crying
  18. chest — a box
  19. chest — of your body
  20. tube — the underground
  21. clip — for paper
  22. tube — a container
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. wound — an injury

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