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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 116 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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. mate — a partner
  4. rule — government
  5. clip — to cut
  6. present — there
  7. wake — a trail
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. clip — a video
  10. mate — a friend
  11. key — the most important part
  12. key — for a lock
  13. game — wild animals
  14. row — a line
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. game — a match
  17. key — in music
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. clip — for paper
  20. present — the time now
  21. row — to paddle
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. rule — a law
  24. mate — to breed

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