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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  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. cold — an illness
  2. rule — government
  3. cold — not warm
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. cell — in biology
  7. lie — to recline
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. cell — a phone
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. ruler — a monarch
  14. clip — to cut
  15. mine — for digging
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. rule — a law
  21. clip — for paper
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. kick — in football
  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