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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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. last — final
  3. last — to go on
  4. march — the month
  5. march — music
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. bore — to drill
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. band — a ring
  12. march — the month
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. last — finally
  15. capital — a city
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. hand — in cards
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. hand — help
  20. bore — to tire
  21. capital — money
  22. band — a music group
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. rule — a law

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