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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 120 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: march · ruler · clip · rule · cold · branch · bay · pop

  1. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. My mare is ________________ in color.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. clip — a video
  3. bay — to keep at bay
  4. cold — not warm
  5. clip — for paper
  6. rule — government
  7. pop — to visit
  8. pop — soda
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. branch — a division
  13. march — the month
  14. march — music
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. clip — to cut
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. cold — an illness
  20. rule — a law
  21. pop — music
  22. march — the month
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. bay — a horse colour

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