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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 120 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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. staff — employees
  3. clip — for paper
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. season — in sport
  6. staff — employees
  7. land — ground
  8. rule — a law
  9. land — to come down
  10. clip — a video
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. season — of the year
  14. rule — government
  15. land — a country
  16. staff — a stick
  17. snap — to click
  18. clip — to cut

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