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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 · arm · rule · mouse · tear · cold · suit · branch

  1. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. When will it ________________ you to start?
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. suit — to fit
  4. rule — government
  5. clip — for paper
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. clip — a video
  8. tear — from crying
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. branch — a division
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. suit — in cards
  16. rule — a law
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. tear — from crying
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — an illness
  21. suit — clothes
  22. clip — to cut
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. tear — to rip

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