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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. clip — to cut
  3. fall — to drop
  4. object — an aim
  5. clip — a video
  6. spring — of water
  7. rule — a law
  8. object — to protest
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. spring — the season
  11. land — a country
  12. fall — to drop
  13. bat — the animal
  14. clip — for paper
  15. object — a thing
  16. spring — a coil
  17. rule — government
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. rash — hasty
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. rash — a series
  22. land — to come down
  23. land — ground
  24. fall — the season

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