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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. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. bear — the animal
  3. saw — the tool
  4. spell — a short time
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cold — an illness
  7. spell — magic
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. spell — letters
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. rule — government
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. saw — the tool
  14. clip — to cut
  15. cold — not warm
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. rule — a law
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. clip — a video
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. bear — the animal
  24. clip — for paper

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