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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. When will it ________________ you to start?
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. clip — to cut
  3. clip — for paper
  4. clip — a video
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. suit — in cards
  8. cold — an illness
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. rule — government
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. suit — clothes
  13. rule — a law
  14. cold — not warm
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. suit — to fit
  17. wake — a trail
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. prune — to trim
  21. prune — to trim
  22. kick — in football
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. fan — a supporter

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