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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. pop — soda
  5. clip — for paper
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. clip — to cut
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. row — a line
  10. clip — a video
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. row — to paddle
  13. bound — certain
  14. bat — the animal
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. bound — obliged
  18. pop — music
  19. rule — a law
  20. bound — tied together
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. pop — to visit
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. bat — in an idiom

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