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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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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: leaves · dip · lean · rash · mate · cold · tear · clip

  1. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  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. leaves — to go away
  2. tear — from crying
  3. mate — a partner
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. clip — a video
  6. mate — a friend
  7. rash — hasty
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. dip — to sink
  10. lean — to bend
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. rash — a series
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. clip — for paper
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. cold — not warm
  17. mate — to breed
  18. clip — to cut
  19. lean — thin
  20. tear — to rip
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. cold — an illness
  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