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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: staff · squash · stem · clip · toast · saw · cold · rule

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. clip — to cut
  3. staff — a stick
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. rule — government
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. cold — an illness
  8. staff — employees
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. squash — to crush
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. clip — for paper
  14. squash — the sport
  15. rule — a law
  16. saw — the tool
  17. clip — a video
  18. staff — employees
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. toast — bread
  22. saw — the tool
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. stem — to come from

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