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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. When will it ________________ you to start?
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. suit — in cards
  3. club — for golf
  4. rest — what's left
  5. tube — a container
  6. clip — for paper
  7. object — to protest
  8. rest — a break
  9. rest — what's left
  10. object — a thing
  11. rule — a law
  12. suit — to fit
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. game — wild animals
  15. clip — to cut
  16. object — an aim
  17. suit — clothes
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. club — a group
  20. club — for dancing
  21. rule — government
  22. tube — the underground
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. clip — a video

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