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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. rule — government
  3. clip — for paper
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. clip — to cut
  6. rule — a law
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. shower — to wash
  9. clip — a video
  10. shower — rain
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. spell — a short time
  20. spell — magic
  21. spell — letters
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. stem — to come from

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