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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 water is too ________________.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  15. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. clip — to cut
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. rule — a law
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. clip — for paper
  9. race — humankind
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. stock — shares
  12. race — a contest
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. jam — a tight spot
  15. jam — to spread on bread
  16. clip — a video
  17. cold — an illness
  18. rule — government
  19. kick — in football
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. stock — goods
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. race — the arms race
  24. stock — a soup base

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