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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: hand · rule · jam · rest · clip · bark · lie · last

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. Tom got himself in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. last — final
  3. hand — in cards
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. clip — to cut
  6. lie — to recline
  7. last — to go on
  8. hand — help
  9. rule — a law
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. rest — what's left
  12. bark — to shout
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. rule — government
  15. rest — a break
  16. last — finally
  17. clip — for paper
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. rest — what's left
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. jam — in traffic
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. jam — a tight spot

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