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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: cell · rest · chest · rule · pitch · clip · mine · march

  1. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. clip — to cut
  3. cell — in biology
  4. rest — a break
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. chest — of your body
  7. rest — what's left
  8. pitch — completely
  9. chest — a box
  10. chest — of your body
  11. rest — what's left
  12. mine — for digging
  13. march — music
  14. march — the month
  15. march — the month
  16. clip — for paper
  17. rule — government
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. rule — a law
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. clip — a video
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. cell — a phone

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