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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. wind — moving air
  3. clip — to cut
  4. clip — a video
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. clip — for paper
  8. fine — high quality
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. squash — to crush
  14. rule — a law
  15. wind — moving air
  16. hand — in cards
  17. dip — to sink
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. rule — government
  20. squash — the sport
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. hand — help
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. ruler — for measuring

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