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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. wake — a trail
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. rule — government
  5. clip — to cut
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. squash — the sport
  8. rule — a law
  9. kick — in football
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. face — to point toward
  14. clip — for paper
  15. squash — to crush
  16. wind — moving air
  17. face — part of the head
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. saw — the tool
  20. face — to confront
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. saw — the tool
  23. clip — a video
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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