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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 · season · hand · pop · clip · suit · wind · mark

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. When will it ________________ you to start?
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  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. clip — to cut
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. pop — music
  4. tear — from crying
  5. wind — moving air
  6. pop — soda
  7. suit — in cards
  8. wind — moving air
  9. hand — help
  10. clip — for paper
  11. season — of the year
  12. tear — from crying
  13. mark — a trace
  14. hand — in cards
  15. pop — to visit
  16. suit — clothes
  17. mark — a grade
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. season — in sport
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. clip — a video
  22. suit — to fit
  23. hand — part of the body
  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