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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. rule — government
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. clip — for paper
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. clip — a video
  9. rest — what's left
  10. wind — moving air
  11. fall — to drop
  12. branch — a division
  13. fall — to drop
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. spring — of water
  17. spring — the season
  18. rest — what's left
  19. fall — the season
  20. rest — a break
  21. spring — a coil
  22. wind — moving air
  23. clip — to cut
  24. rule — to rule out

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