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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: rule · deal · mine · mark · cold · wind · mouse · clip

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. mark — a grade
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. clip — to cut
  5. clip — a video
  6. rule — a law
  7. mark — a trace
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. cold — an illness
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. deal — to handle
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. clip — for paper
  15. mine — for digging
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. cold — not warm
  21. rule — government
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. wind — moving air
  24. deal — an agreement

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