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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 seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  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. clip — to cut
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. cold — an illness
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. cold — not warm
  8. rule — a law
  9. degree — temperature
  10. degree — an amount
  11. clip — for paper
  12. charge — a price
  13. charge — in control
  14. bound — tied together
  15. bound — obliged
  16. degree — from a university
  17. bound — certain
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. rule — government
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. charge — electricity
  23. patient — a sick person
  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