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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 · safe · fall · wave · wake · cold · clip · bat

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. fall — to drop
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. safe — a strongbox
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. wake — a trail
  7. clip — a video
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. clip — for paper
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. bat — the animal
  13. fall — to drop
  14. clip — to cut
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cold — an illness
  19. rule — a law
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. fall — the season

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