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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. cold — an illness
  5. clip — for paper
  6. rule — a law
  7. squash — to crush
  8. rule — government
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. mug — to rob
  12. clip — to cut
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. squash — the sport
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. cold — not warm
  17. mug — a face
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. mug — a cup
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. cold — the Cold War

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