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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. wound — an injury
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. season — of the year
  5. rash — a series
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. wound — an injury
  8. season — in sport
  9. clip — a video
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. mine — for digging
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. clip — to cut
  14. rash — hasty
  15. rule — government
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. clip — for paper
  18. rule — a law

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