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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. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. clip — a video
  3. chest — of your body
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. drill — a practice
  6. drill — army training
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. spell — magic
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. clip — for paper
  11. tube — the underground
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. branch — a division
  14. drill — the tool
  15. chest — a box
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. rule — a law
  18. spell — a short time
  19. chest — of your body
  20. spell — letters
  21. rule — government
  22. clip — to cut
  23. tube — a container
  24. branch — of a tree

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