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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: bat · perch · leaves · rest · last · hide · clip · tear

  1. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. rest — what's left
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. last — final
  6. rest — a break
  7. perch — the fish
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. clip — for paper
  10. tear — to rip
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. bat — the animal
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. tear — from crying
  17. last — to go on
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. last — finally
  21. clip — to cut
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. clip — a video
  24. tear — from crying

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