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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 120 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: drill · land · pass · craft · rule · staff · clip · last

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. staff — employees
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. pass — to spend time
  5. rule — a law
  6. craft — a skill
  7. land — to come down
  8. staff — a stick
  9. pass — a permit
  10. clip — for paper
  11. staff — employees
  12. craft — boats
  13. rule — government
  14. drill — a practice
  15. clip — a video
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. clip — to cut
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. land — a country
  20. last — to go on
  21. drill — the tool
  22. last — finally
  23. drill — army training
  24. land — ground

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