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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. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. rule — a law
  6. land — ground
  7. clip — a video
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. clip — for paper
  10. tear — from crying
  11. lean — to bend
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. land — a country
  14. clip — to cut
  15. tear — from crying
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. lean — thin
  20. wake — a trail
  21. rule — government
  22. tear — to rip
  23. land — to come down
  24. wake — before a funeral

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