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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 didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. clip — a video
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. rule — government
  7. clip — for paper
  8. rule — a law
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. wake — a trail
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. cold — not warm
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. rock — a stone
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. cold — an illness
  17. jam — in traffic
  18. prune — to trim
  19. jam — to spread on bread
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. clip — to cut
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. rock — music
  24. prune — to trim

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