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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. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. net — in sport
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. rule — a law
  5. firm — decided
  6. ground — a position
  7. degree — an amount
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. firm — a company
  10. shower — to wash
  11. ground — the earth
  12. clip — a video
  13. clip — to cut
  14. rule — government
  15. net — for catching
  16. wake — a trail
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. degree — temperature
  19. ground — crushed
  20. net — after costs
  21. firm — steady
  22. shower — rain
  23. degree — from a university
  24. clip — for paper

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