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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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. clip — a video
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. pit — in a race
  7. clip — to cut
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. fall — to drop
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. rule — a law
  13. fall — the season
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. wind — moving air
  16. clip — for paper
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. row — a line
  20. pit — a hole
  21. row — to paddle
  22. fall — to drop
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. wind — moving air

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