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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. rule — government
  4. march — music
  5. craft — a skill
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. board — a committee
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. craft — boats
  11. cold — an illness
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. clip — for paper
  16. dip — to sink
  17. rule — a law
  18. march — the month
  19. march — the month
  20. clip — to cut
  21. board — to get on
  22. cold — not warm
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. clip — a video

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