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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. chair — a leader
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. tear — to rip
  6. rule — government
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. tear — from crying
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. rule — a law
  11. clip — a video
  12. pit — a hole
  13. pit — in a race
  14. content — happy
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. clip — to cut
  19. pass — a permit
  20. ball — a dance
  21. clip — for paper
  22. content — the amount
  23. tear — from crying
  24. chair — a professorship

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