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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: date · clip · club · rule · cell · can

  1. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. can — a tin
  3. clip — for paper
  4. clip — a video
  5. can — a tin
  6. cell — in biology
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. clip — to cut
  10. cell — a phone
  11. rule — government
  12. rule — a law
  13. club — a group
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. club — for golf
  16. date — the fruit
  17. club — for dancing
  18. rule — to rule out

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