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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: chest · race · ruler · squash · clip · rest · rule · track

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. rule — a law
  3. rule — government
  4. clip — for paper
  5. race — a contest
  6. track — a path
  7. race — humankind
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. ruler — a monarch
  10. race — the arms race
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. squash — to crush
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. chest — a box
  15. rest — a break
  16. rest — what's left
  17. clip — a video
  18. track — a song
  19. rest — what's left
  20. chest — of your body
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. chest — of your body
  23. track — to keep track
  24. clip — to cut

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