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

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. band — a music group
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. snap — to click
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. pop — soda
  8. wound — an injury
  9. pop — to visit
  10. clip — to cut
  11. band — a ring
  12. clip — for paper
  13. rule — government
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. last — finally
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. last — to go on
  18. pop — music
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. clip — a video
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. last — final

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