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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. band — a music group
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. root — the cause
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. root — of a word
  9. clip — to cut
  10. last — final
  11. land — to come down
  12. rule — a law
  13. last — to go on
  14. land — ground
  15. rash — hasty
  16. clip — for paper
  17. rule — government
  18. clip — a video
  19. land — a country
  20. band — a ring
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. root — of a plant
  24. rash — a series

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