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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. rule — government
  4. clip — for paper
  5. mate — a friend
  6. fall — to drop
  7. mate — a partner
  8. mark — a grade
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. clip — to cut
  12. wind — moving air
  13. clip — a video
  14. fall — the season
  15. rule — a law
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. mark — a trace
  19. march — the month
  20. march — the month
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. wind — moving air
  23. mate — to breed
  24. march — music

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