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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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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 · lash · cold · scale · degree · mug · lie · rule

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. clip — for paper
  3. rule — a law
  4. degree — an amount
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. mug — a face
  8. lie — to recline
  9. scale — in music
  10. clip — to cut
  11. cold — not warm
  12. rule — government
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. degree — temperature
  15. mug — a cup
  16. scale — size or range
  17. mug — to rob
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. degree — from a university
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. clip — a video
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. cold — the Cold War

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