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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: hide · tear · foot · wind · scale · mine · clip · row

  1. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — part of the body
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. tear — to rip
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. clip — for paper
  6. scale — in music
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. mine — for digging
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. tear — from crying
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. scale — size or range
  15. clip — a video
  16. clip — to cut
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. wind — moving air
  19. foot — a measure
  20. tear — from crying
  21. wind — moving air
  22. row — to paddle
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. row — a line

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