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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. rule — a law
  5. lean — to bend
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. lean — thin
  8. cold — not warm
  9. can — a tin
  10. cold — an illness
  11. clip — a video
  12. can — to be able to
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. wound — an injury
  15. clip — for paper
  16. wound — an injury
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. rule — government
  19. clip — to cut
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. perch — the fish
  22. can — a tin
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. lean — to rest against

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