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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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. scale — in music
  4. ball — a dance
  5. fall — to drop
  6. rush — hurry
  7. clip — for paper
  8. ball — a great time
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. scale — size or range
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. clip — to cut
  16. rule — a law
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. clip — a video
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. kid — to tease
  21. fall — to drop
  22. fall — the season
  23. kid — child
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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