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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 124 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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. scale — size or range
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. cold — an illness
  6. bat — the animal
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. rule — government
  9. rule — a law
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. clip — a video
  12. fine — high quality
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. fine — all right
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. clip — for paper
  20. mate — a friend
  21. cold — not warm
  22. scale — in music
  23. mate — to breed
  24. mate — a partner

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