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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: mouse · pass · capital · leaves · hide · kid · tear · clip

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. pass — a permit
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. tear — from crying
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. clip — for paper
  13. capital — a city
  14. clip — to cut
  15. kid — to tease
  16. clip — a video
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. tear — to rip
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. kid — child
  23. capital — money
  24. pass — to spend time

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