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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: lean · rule · kid · clip · content · present · racket · fall

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. fall — the season
  3. rule — government
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. fall — to drop
  6. present — there
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. present — a gift
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. content — happy
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. lean — thin
  15. fall — to drop
  16. kid — to tease
  17. present — the time now
  18. clip — for paper
  19. lean — to bend
  20. kid — child
  21. clip — a video
  22. clip — to cut
  23. content — the amount
  24. racket — a loud noise

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