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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. clip — for paper
  4. fine — all right
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. rule — government
  7. clip — a video
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. hand — help
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. clip — to cut
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. hand — in cards
  14. snap — to click
  15. can — to be able to
  16. cold — not warm
  17. can — a tin
  18. bear — the animal
  19. cold — an illness
  20. can — a tin
  21. bear — the animal
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. rule — a law

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