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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 124 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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. tear — from crying
  3. band — a music group
  4. rule — a law
  5. pop — music
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. clip — a video
  8. content — happy
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. content — the amount
  11. lie — to recline
  12. tear — to rip
  13. band — a ring
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. pop — to visit
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. tear — from crying
  18. clip — to cut
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. clip — for paper
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. pop — soda
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. band — a rubber band

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