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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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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: tear · wake · mine · firm · clip · fine · trunk · scale

  1. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. tear — from crying
  3. scale — in music
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. mine — for digging
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. clip — for paper
  9. tear — from crying
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. firm — a company
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. clip — a video
  15. scale — size or range
  16. tear — to rip
  17. fine — all right
  18. fine — high quality
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. firm — decided
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. clip — to cut
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. wake — a trail

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