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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. rule — a law
  3. hand — help
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. land — to come down
  6. rule — government
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. clip — to cut
  13. hand — in cards
  14. band — a music group
  15. chair — a leader
  16. rock — music
  17. land — ground
  18. rock — a stone
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. land — a country
  21. clip — for paper
  22. band — a ring
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. pitcher — a jug

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