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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. rule — a law
  4. squash — the sport
  5. rush — hurry
  6. squash — to crush
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. clip — a video
  9. clip — to cut
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. snap — to click
  13. root — the cause
  14. root — of a word
  15. rule — government
  16. root — of a plant
  17. perch — the fish
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. clip — for paper
  24. chair — a leader

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