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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 was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. rule — government
  4. clip — a video
  5. snap — to click
  6. ball — a dance
  7. face — to confront
  8. rule — a law
  9. last — finally
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. face — part of the head
  13. last — final
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. wax — to grow
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. last — to go on
  18. clip — for paper
  19. face — to point toward
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. clip — to cut
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. ball — a round shape

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