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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. snap — to click
  3. last — final
  4. clip — a video
  5. can — a tin
  6. last — to go on
  7. rule — government
  8. last — finally
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. present — there
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. wind — moving air
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. rule — a law
  17. present — a gift
  18. can — a tin
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. clip — for paper
  22. can — to be able to
  23. clip — to cut
  24. wind — moving air

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