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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: face · fork · clip · snap · rule · tear

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tear — to rip
  4. tear — from crying
  5. clip — to cut
  6. rule — a law
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. fork — in a road
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. snap — to click
  13. face — to point toward
  14. clip — a video
  15. clip — for paper
  16. face — to confront
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. face — part of the head

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