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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'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. face — to confront
  4. face — to point toward
  5. object — an aim
  6. rule — government
  7. rule — a law
  8. wound — an injury
  9. rest — what's left
  10. object — to protest
  11. clip — a video
  12. clip — for paper
  13. wound — an injury
  14. face — part of the head
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. rest — what's left
  17. mine — for digging
  18. object — a thing
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. rest — a break
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. clip — to cut
  24. squash — to crush

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