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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. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. rule — government
  3. spell — letters
  4. band — a music group
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. last — final
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. last — finally
  10. rule — a law
  11. spell — magic
  12. spell — a short time
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. branch — a division
  15. net — in sport
  16. last — to go on
  17. net — for catching
  18. band — a ring
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. wind — moving air
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. wind — moving air
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. net — after costs

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