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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. spring — the season
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. rule — government
  5. spring — of water
  6. squash — the sport
  7. spring — a coil
  8. squash — to crush
  9. clip — to cut
  10. spell — letters
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. clip — a video
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. rule — a law
  16. wound — an injury
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. pass — a permit
  19. clip — for paper
  20. kick — in football
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. spell — magic
  24. spell — a short 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