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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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. clip — for paper
  3. saw — the tool
  4. cold — an illness
  5. dip — to sink
  6. press — newspapers
  7. cold — not warm
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. chair — a leader
  13. press — a publisher
  14. court — for sport
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. clip — a video
  17. press — to push
  18. clip — to cut
  19. saw — the tool
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. rule — a law
  22. court — of law
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. court — of a king

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