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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. last — finally
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. cell — a phone
  9. clip — to cut
  10. cell — in biology
  11. last — to go on
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. current — of water
  14. lie — to recline
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. clip — a video
  17. current — electric
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. current — happening now
  20. clip — for paper
  21. band — a ring
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. band — a music group

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