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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. net — in sport
  4. ground — the earth
  5. clip — for paper
  6. ground — a position
  7. row — a line
  8. snap — to click
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. row — to paddle
  11. ground — crushed
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. net — for catching
  14. clip — a video
  15. net — after costs
  16. clip — to cut
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. rule — government

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