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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 116 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. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. rule — government
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. object — an aim
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cold — not warm
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. cold — an illness
  9. clip — for paper
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. club — for golf
  14. object — to protest
  15. club — for dancing
  16. branch — a division
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. clip — a video
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. clip — to cut
  23. object — a thing
  24. rule — a law

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