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

Word bank: kid · last · hide · rule · band · tear

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. tear — from crying
  3. last — to go on
  4. band — a ring
  5. last — final
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. band — a music group
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. tear — from crying
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. tear — to rip
  14. kid — child
  15. rule — government
  16. kid — to tease
  17. rule — a law
  18. hide — to keep secret

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