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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. clip — for paper
  6. spring — the season
  7. foot — a measure
  8. saw — the tool
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. clip — a video
  11. saw — the tool
  12. clip — to cut
  13. rule — government
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. cap — a lid
  16. cap — a hat
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. spring — a coil
  21. spring — of water
  22. dip — to sink
  23. cap — of ice
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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