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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. mate — a friend
  4. fall — to drop
  5. object — to protest
  6. mate — a partner
  7. mate — to breed
  8. clip — a video
  9. fall — the season
  10. prune — to trim
  11. object — an aim
  12. prune — to trim
  13. object — a thing
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. fall — to drop
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. clip — for paper
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. rule — government
  24. rule — a law

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