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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: stick · chair · land · rule · object · tear · clip · mine

  1. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  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. stick — to attach or keep to
  2. rule — a law
  3. land — ground
  4. land — a country
  5. tear — to rip
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. tear — from crying
  10. chair — a leader
  11. object — a thing
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. tear — from crying
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. object — to protest
  16. clip — a video
  17. land — to come down
  18. clip — for paper
  19. clip — to cut
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. object — an aim
  23. mine — for digging
  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