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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: wind · rock · ground · saw · tear · pit · racket · clip

  1. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. clip — for paper
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. tear — from crying
  7. clip — to cut
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. saw — the tool
  10. pit — a hole
  11. pit — in a race
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. rock — music
  15. wind — moving air
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. rock — a stone
  18. ground — crushed
  19. tear — from crying
  20. wind — moving air
  21. tear — to rip
  22. clip — a video
  23. ground — a position
  24. saw — the tool

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