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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 people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. mug — a cup
  3. clip — to cut
  4. cold — an illness
  5. mug — to rob
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. race — a contest
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. clip — for paper
  11. board — to get on
  12. race — the arms race
  13. band — a music group
  14. saw — the tool
  15. race — humankind
  16. mug — a face
  17. band — a ring
  18. cold — not warm
  19. saw — the tool
  20. board — a committee
  21. clip — a video
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. board — a flat piece

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