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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. clip — for paper
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. mark — a trace
  5. chip — to eat
  6. rule — a law
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. last — to go on
  9. fall — the season
  10. rule — government
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. fall — to drop
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. chip — for betting
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. fall — to drop
  17. last — finally
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wind — moving air
  20. clip — to cut
  21. mark — a grade
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. clip — a video

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