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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 · lean · rule · tear · court · fine · lie · cold

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. lie — to recline
  3. tear — from crying
  4. court — of a king
  5. fine — high quality
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. court — of law
  8. rule — a law
  9. lean — thin
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. fine — all right
  12. court — for sport
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. lean — to bend
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. clip — for paper
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. cold — an illness
  20. clip — to cut
  21. cold — not warm
  22. clip — a video
  23. rule — government
  24. tear — to rip

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