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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: rule · cold · degree · cabinet · kid · stand · clip · bound

  1. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. degree — temperature
  3. stand — to bear
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. clip — a video
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. rule — government
  10. clip — for paper
  11. kid — to tease
  12. cold — an illness
  13. degree — an amount
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. bound — certain
  16. bound — obliged
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. rule — a law
  19. kid — child
  20. bound — tied together
  21. clip — to cut
  22. degree — from a university
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. cold — not warm

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