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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: cue · fan · chair · clip · rule · cell · bark · lean

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. rule — government
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. clip — a video
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. cell — in biology
  9. cue — a signal
  10. bark — to shout
  11. cell — a phone
  12. lean — to bend
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. cue — for pool
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. rule — a law
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. clip — for paper
  20. clip — to cut
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. cue — a hint
  23. lean — thin
  24. fan — a supporter

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