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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. land — to come down
  3. rule — government
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. lean — thin
  8. lean — to bend
  9. clip — for paper
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. clip — to cut
  13. staff — employees
  14. land — ground
  15. staff — a stick
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. staff — employees
  18. land — a country
  19. rash — hasty
  20. cell — a phone
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. rash — a series
  23. cell — in biology
  24. rule — a law

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