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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. wound — an injury
  3. clip — for paper
  4. bound — tied together
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. bass — the fish
  7. rule — government
  8. bound — certain
  9. rule — a law
  10. wind — moving air
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. bound — obliged
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. clip — a video
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. clip — to cut
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wound — an injury
  21. bass — low music
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. mine — for digging
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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