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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: band · rule · last · row · club · kick

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. last — final
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. club — a group
  6. last — finally
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. last — to go on
  9. rule — a law
  10. row — a line
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. club — for dancing
  13. rule — government
  14. band — a ring
  15. row — to paddle
  16. band — a music group
  17. kick — in football
  18. kick — with a leg

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