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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 116 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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. rule — government
  4. firm — decided
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. stem — to come from
  7. rush — hurry
  8. rule — a law
  9. tear — from crying
  10. tear — from crying
  11. squash — to crush
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. clip — for paper
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. firm — a company
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. squash — the sport
  20. firm — steady
  21. clip — to cut
  22. game — a match
  23. tear — to rip
  24. clip — a video

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