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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. My mare is ________________ in color.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. squash — the sport
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. cold — an illness
  8. clip — to cut
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. squash — to crush
  11. cold — not warm
  12. clip — a video
  13. cell — a phone
  14. clip — for paper
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. cell — in biology
  18. rule — a law
  19. kick — in football
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. bay — a horse colour
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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