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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: suit · race · clip · pop · chair · rule

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. When will it ________________ you to start?
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. clip — for paper
  3. suit — in cards
  4. race — a contest
  5. clip — a video
  6. rule — a law
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. suit — to fit
  9. race — the arms race
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. chair — a leader
  12. rule — government
  13. pop — soda
  14. suit — clothes
  15. pop — music
  16. race — humankind
  17. clip — to cut
  18. pop — to visit

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