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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. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. cap — a lid
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. chair — a leader
  5. rule — government
  6. tear — from crying
  7. rule — a law
  8. cap — of ice
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. bound — obliged
  11. clip — for paper
  12. bound — certain
  13. tear — to rip
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. cell — a phone
  17. clip — to cut
  18. tear — from crying
  19. cap — a hat
  20. bound — tied together
  21. clip — a video
  22. capital — money
  23. cell — in biology
  24. capital — a city

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