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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 want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. rule — government
  3. fine — high quality
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. game — wild animals
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. wind — moving air
  10. tube — the underground
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. content — happy
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. fine — all right
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. content — the amount
  17. rule — a law
  18. clip — for paper
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. clip — to cut
  21. wind — moving air
  22. clip — a video
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. game — a match

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