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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: club · date · clip · sharp · nail · rule · foot · chest

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. foot — part of the body
  4. foot — a measure
  5. chest — a box
  6. chest — of your body
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. chest — of your body
  10. club — for golf
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. clip — a video
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. date — the fruit
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. clip — for paper
  19. club — a group
  20. rule — a law
  21. sharp — clever
  22. clip — to cut
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. club — for dancing

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