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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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Word bank
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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: rule · clip · last · date · wax · cell

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. 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. date — on the calendar
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. last — final
  4. rule — government
  5. last — finally
  6. cell — in biology
  7. clip — for paper
  8. clip — to cut
  9. last — to go on
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. date — the fruit
  14. clip — a video
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. wax — to grow
  17. cell — a phone
  18. 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