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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. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. tube — the underground
  5. cold — an illness
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. clip — for paper
  8. clip — a video
  9. rule — a law
  10. chair — a leader
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. clip — to cut
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. cold — not warm
  15. tube — a container
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. rock — music
  23. rock — a stone
  24. rule — government

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