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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: chest · bear · racket · drill · tear · bulb · fall · clip

  1. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. bulb — for light
  3. chest — a box
  4. clip — to cut
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tear — from crying
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. chest — of your body
  9. drill — the tool
  10. fall — to drop
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. bulb — for light
  14. bear — the animal
  15. tear — to rip
  16. fall — the season
  17. drill — army training
  18. drill — a practice
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. fall — to drop
  21. chest — of your body
  22. bear — the animal
  23. clip — for paper
  24. clip — a video

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