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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. clip — a video
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. fine — all right
  6. sharp — clever
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. clip — for paper
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. rule — a law
  12. drill — a practice
  13. drill — army training
  14. chair — a leader
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. cold — not warm
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. rule — government
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. fine — high quality
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. cold — an illness
  24. drill — the tool

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