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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 120 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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. wound — an injury
  3. bear — the animal
  4. rule — government
  5. face — part of the head
  6. face — to confront
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. clip — to cut
  9. wound — an injury
  10. chair — a leader
  11. bat — the animal
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. clip — a video
  14. face — to point toward
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. clip — for paper
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. snap — to click
  22. bear — the animal
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. bat — for baseball

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