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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. wind — moving air
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. rule — government
  6. clip — to cut
  7. can — a tin
  8. rest — a break
  9. clip — a video
  10. degree — an amount
  11. snap — to click
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. degree — from a university
  14. rule — a law
  15. rest — what's left
  16. can — to be able to
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. rest — what's left
  19. clip — for paper
  20. degree — temperature
  21. wake — a trail
  22. can — a tin
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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