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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. chest — of your body
  3. clip — for paper
  4. lie — to recline
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. sharp — clever
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. rule — government
  14. chest — of your body
  15. bear — the animal
  16. bear — the animal
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. rule — a law
  19. wake — a trail
  20. clip — to cut
  21. cold — an illness
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. clip — a video
  24. cold — not warm

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