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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. rule — government
  3. season — of the year
  4. mate — a partner
  5. file — a tool
  6. swing — in golf
  7. rule — a law
  8. clip — for paper
  9. mate — a friend
  10. clip — a video
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. game — a match
  13. file — a line of people
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. season — in sport
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. clip — to cut
  18. mate — to breed
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. game — wild animals
  22. swing — to play on
  23. file — a document
  24. swing — music

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