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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 116 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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. When will it ________________ you to start?
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  24. He refilled his coffee ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. last — to go on
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. suit — to fit
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. clip — for paper
  8. spring — a coil
  9. mug — to rob
  10. spring — the season
  11. suit — in cards
  12. last — final
  13. rule — a law
  14. spring — of water
  15. last — finally
  16. tear — from crying
  17. mug — a face
  18. clip — a video
  19. tear — to rip
  20. tear — from crying
  21. clip — to cut
  22. rule — government
  23. suit — clothes
  24. mug — a cup

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