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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. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. rule — government
  5. clip — a video
  6. rule — a law
  7. safe — a strongbox
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. prune — to trim
  11. prune — to trim
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wind — moving air
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. pitch — completely
  18. clip — for paper
  19. cap — a hat
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cap — a lid
  22. cap — of ice
  23. clip — to cut
  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