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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  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. wound — an injury
  2. clip — to cut
  3. kid — to tease
  4. last — final
  5. last — finally
  6. clip — for paper
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. wound — an injury
  9. bank — for money
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. bank — of a river
  13. rule — government
  14. kid — child
  15. rule — a law
  16. bat — the animal
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. last — to go on
  19. safe — a strongbox
  20. bank — for money
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. bat — for baseball
  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