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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. 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. snap — to click
  2. drill — army training
  3. game — wild animals
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. bear — the animal
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. game — a match
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. stand — to bear
  11. rule — a law
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. drill — a practice
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. clip — to cut
  17. clip — a video
  18. clip — for paper
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. bear — the animal
  22. drill — the tool
  23. branch — a division
  24. 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