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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: clip · rule · hand · cold · deal · staff · march · arm

  1. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. clip — a video
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. march — the month
  6. rule — government
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. cold — not warm
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. march — music
  11. hand — help
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. clip — to cut
  14. staff — employees
  15. staff — employees
  16. hand — in cards
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. deal — to handle
  19. march — the month
  20. rule — a law
  21. clip — for paper
  22. cold — an illness
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. arm — part of the body

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