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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: clip · toast · present · hand · can · ball · tear · roll

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. hand — help
  3. ball — a great time
  4. present — the time now
  5. can — to be able to
  6. roll — a cake
  7. hand — in cards
  8. clip — to cut
  9. can — a tin
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. tear — to rip
  12. present — there
  13. can — a tin
  14. clip — for paper
  15. roll — a list
  16. toast — bread
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. toast — the most admired
  20. tear — from crying
  21. clip — a video
  22. present — a gift
  23. ball — a dance
  24. hand — part of the body

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