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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. root — the cause
  3. cold — not warm
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. cold — an illness
  6. kid — child
  7. saw — the tool
  8. clip — a video
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. bank — for money
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. root — of a plant
  13. rule — a law
  14. jam — in traffic
  15. clip — for paper
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. bank — for money
  18. bank — of a river
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. root — of a word
  21. rule — government
  22. saw — the tool
  23. jam — to spread on bread
  24. clip — to cut

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