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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. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — on your feet
  2. rule — government
  3. track — a song
  4. bat — the animal
  5. land — a country
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. capital — a city
  9. track — to keep track
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. clip — to cut
  13. kick — in football
  14. land — to come down
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. rule — a law
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. clip — for paper
  19. capital — money
  20. track — a path
  21. stand — to bear
  22. clip — a video
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. land — ground

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