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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: last · band · degree · plane · pitcher · rule · clip · lie

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. rule — government
  4. plane — a tool
  5. band — a ring
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. degree — temperature
  8. clip — a video
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. clip — for paper
  11. lie — to recline
  12. clip — to cut
  13. degree — an amount
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. rule — a law
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. degree — from a university
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. last — to go on
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. band — a music group
  24. last — finally

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